


We're A Whole Lot Of Trouble

by Serene_Victory_77



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M, Mild Language, Six of Crows, Violence, criminals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-01-19 13:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 118,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12410871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serene_Victory_77/pseuds/Serene_Victory_77
Summary: Nobody would be able to keep up with the fast pace lives of Ketterdam University's six outcast: Nina Zenik, the sassiest, and curviest, girl in school who really doesn't give a damn. The wolf-loving, and mostly moral-abiding Matthias Helvar. There's the previously rich pyrogeek chemist, Wylan Van Eck. Jesper Fahey, a gun-and-gambling obsessed joker. Inej Ghafa, and acrobatic dancer who'd sooner stab you then let you flirt with her. And their leader, Kaz Brekker, the most ruthless, severe, and ingenious thief on campus, and all of Ketterdam.They handle classes, clubs, families, jobs, and each other. No one can handle anything just quite like themYou don't mess with the Six of Crows. Not when they have an essay due that Friday and someone they have to go blackmail after school.-Or-Six teens just trying to not kill everyone around them.





	1. Calm During The Storm

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Fic on Six of Crows, and AO3 in general, so go easy. Some of the characters might not seem as severe or intense as they do in the books, but it's just to a certain extent, and to make it easier for me to write them.

**Kaz**

 

"I am going to kill you, Brekker!" Matthias shouted furiously, trying to chase Kaz down a twist of alleys.

Nina tried to calm down Matthias, placing a soothing hand on his shoulder, but he was having none of it. "Damn it, Kaz, where did you go?"

Kaz smiled to himself as he climbed the side of an old warehouse. "Hell,"

Matthias rolled his eyes. "That's where you came from, you demon-spawn," The Fjerdian went down the alley Kaz was watching from above. "Now, just where did you run off to?"

Jesper watched from behind Kaz, a smile on his lips. "He's got you now, Matty,"

"Don't call me Matty!" Matthias barked.

_ And . . . now. _

Kaz jumped from the roof of the building, training his gun on Matthias. He squeezed the trigger, hitting the blond in the head. The blond made an outraged noise, and fell to the floor, a puddle of blood beginning to form under his blown out skull.

"Head shot!" Both Nina and Jesper announced, surprised, but still impressed.

 

** Game Over **

** Winner: Bastard_of_the_Barrel_30 **

** Loser: ArticWolfSoldier **

 

Kaz shut his laptop, looking over at Matthias victoriously. "You're too easy to beat, Helvar."

"You're cheating. I know you are," Matthias grumbled, looking dejected.

Kaz didn't deny or affirm that. He hadn't cheated though. Matthias was just really, really bad at video games.

Jesper sipped his hot chocolate. "Maybe a board game would be better, Matthias."

Nina snorted, shoving a brownie into her mouth from the counter. "Kaz will beat us at practically any game, Jesper. We should ban him from competitive games."

"Aren't all games competitive?" Jesper asked. Before she could answer, the door flew open, letting in a flurry of snowflakes, and a very cold Wylan and Inej. Fat snowflakes covered them from head to toe. On Inej, who was wearing all black that day, it looked like white bullet holes. Wylan shut the close behind them violently, shivering like the cold had sunken into his bones. Inej shook the snow from her braid, and started to fight her shoes off. Wylan followed suit, shaking his red curls like a puppy.

Nina was the first to move. "Oh, you two look horrible. Go, change. I'll pour you some hot chocolate."

Inej smiled gratefully at Nina. "Thanks, Nina. It's freezing out there. We ran all the way back."

Wylan nodded in affirmation, already heading to the basement, which served as his room. It had several little side rooms and closets, giving him enough room to experiment his usually explosive concoctions. "It's a blizzard. I'm surprised we didn't get buried alive in the snow, or just get frozen before getting here."

Jesper laughed. "You're Wylan Van Sunshine. You can't freeze."

Wylan shot him and over-the-shoulder pout. "Don't call me that."

Inej shook her head and headed up the stairs, smiling at Kaz as she passed him, where he sat on the couch. Kaz raised an eyebrow at her in return, letting his lips quirk into the smallest sliver of a smile. She, despite the icy condition she'd entered the house, seemed to be in a really good, warm mood.

Nina fussed in the kitchen (that belonged to Kaz, Inej, and Matthias, but they had stopped paying attention about who's kitchen was who's. There were only two, but what did it matter?), grabbing Inej's favorite cup, a dark purple mug with silver writing spelling out ' _ Dreamer & Doer _ ' in cursive. Kaz had gotten it for Inej for her birthday. Nina grabbed a simple light blue cup for Wylan, and set them on the counter, pouring hot chocolate into them from the pot they had made earlier without spilling a drop. She grabbed the whipped cream and put it on Inej's, and marshmallows for Wylan. Kaz was surprised that Nina remembered everyone's favorite way to take hot chocolate. It had taken a long time for them to perfect the mixture so it wouldn't be too sweet (Matthias, Inej, and Jesper) and not too bitter (Nina, Wylan, and Kaz). They all took their differently. Kaz knew how they all liked their hot chocolate, but apparently, he wasn't the only one paying attention.

Some minutes later, Wylan came from his room, wearing a baggy wool sweater and sweat pants. He looked almost childish, but none of them really cared, like Wylan's father might've. Nina handed him his mug, and he smiled. "Thanks, Nina. Ooh, marshmallows!" 

Jesper laughed, and motioned for Wylan to come over to sit by him. Sort of. Jesper was sitting criss-cross above the kitchen island, and Wylan sat on one of the cushion-y black stools next to it. "So, how was practice?" Jesper asked, sipping his M&M hot chocolate (he put M&M's and let them float to the bottom as a 'treat').

Wylan opened his mouth, but another voice cut him off. "Absolute hell."

They all looked up to see Inej, freshly changed into black leggings and a large hoodie, walking down the stairs. Kaz tried to keep his eyes from her. Inej wasn't someone people generally described as _cute_ , despite her shorter-than-average stature. Stunning, maybe. Even gorgeous. Some people called her pretty, but there was more to Inej than that. But she wasn't  _cute_. Except when she wore exceptionally large or baggy clothing. Then, she was something people wanted to cuddle. That  _Kaz_ wanted to cuddle.

Kaz Brekker, cuddling? Perish the thought. 

Inej moved down the stairs gracefully, smiling at Nina as the red-clad girl handed her the hot chocolate. Inej moved to sit next to Kaz on the large black couch, while Matthias and Nina piled into the bean bags at the corner of the room. Despite the business that usually went around inside the house, it was a complete comfort-palace. "So," Nina bit another pastry, reminding Kaz of the cookie on his plate next to him. He offered it to Inej, who took it from him and bit into it casually. "Why was practice so horrible?"

Wylan and Inej looked at each other. Wylan was part of the music club, and Inej part of the dance club. The two often worked together to create concerts, so they often rehearsed with each other. "Well . . ."

Kaz looked at Inej, eyebrows raised in question. She sighed. "They're having us do this really cool contemporary dance, but the costumes for the dancers are a bit . . . revealing. I asked if there was anything I could wear that wouldn't be so revealing, but the director was having none of it. I had to wear the thing. It's actually really pretty, but you guys know how I feel about that stuff." She made an uncomfortable face. Nothing else needed to be said. 4 years ago, Inej had been kidnapped in Ravka after finishing a performance there. At the airport, she'd been attacked by some men. She was later sold to Tante Heleen, who owned a building in Ketterdam were she kept girls and sold them as prostitutes. Inej had been 16 then. She spent a whole year there, until one day, Kaz was walking past that particular building, looking for information on a certain person a client wanted him to get blackmail from. It had been a hot day, and Tante Heleen had risked putting the windows down. When Inej saw Kaz, she for some reason felt like he would be the person to ask. She threw a bottle of nail polish at him (Kaz remembered being baffled when it made contact. He hadn't seen Inej at the window when he passed). She had whispered to Kaz 'Help me and I'll help you'. Kaz hadn't initially reacted, but the next day, he picked the lock on the window of Inej's room, and let her live with him. They signed her up into Ketterdam University with fake papers while Inej worked to help Kaz out. She didn't like showing skin, didn't like make up, ever perfumes, and for a long time, she wouldn't even let Nina or Jesper hug her after they had become friends. 

The others nodded. Kaz thought about it for a moment, before speaking. "I'll deal with it,"

Inej looked at him, skeptical, but he thought he could see the hints of a pleased expression on her face. "Does you dealing with it include breaking the law?"

He shrugged. "Maybe,"

"Kaz!"

He didn't answer, and instead, he glanced at Wylan. "And why was practice bad for you?"

Wylan bit into a snicker-doodle, crumbs attaching to his cheeks. "We had to sing,"

Matthias frowned. "Why is that so bad? You are a great singer,"

Wylan smiled a little. "Except when I'm teaching Jesper?"

Matthias nodded, tilting his head. "Yes. Except when you're teaching Jesper. He can't sing."

"Hey!" the dark-skinned boy protested. "I'm a wonderful singer!"

They all shook their heads. Nina's curls smacked Matthias as she violently shook her head. "No, Jesper, no. I swear, I almost shoved a frying pan down your throat when you started to sing "I'm An Albatraoz'."

"Kaz did punch me while I was singing that once," Jesper thought aloud. "I didn't think it was because I was bad."

Kaz just looked at Jesper. "What did you think it was for?"

"I don't know! Maybe you just wanted to punch me! Maybe Nina tried to put pink glitter all over your room again! Maybe Inej didn't put enough sugar into your coffee!" Jesper huffed. "You're always punching people, Kaz."

"Not me," Inej said.

"Or me," Nina pipped in.

"Or me," Wylan added. 

Matthias and Jesper shared a confused look. "I understand you not punching Inej, but-"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Inej muttered under her breath.

"Does that mean you only punch us?" Jesper and Matthias looked slightly betrayed. 

Kaz ignored them. "So, Wylan, you had to sing?"

Wylan was staring at the group. "Singing, singing lessons with Jesper, Kaz punching people, why Kaz punches people, and who he punches . . ."

"Are you trying to chart our conversation?" Kaz asked.

Wylan smiled a little. "Honestly, being on the sidelines of your conversations is either the best things ever, or the worst thing ever. It's a toss up, but either way, it's impressive. Anyway," he twirled one of his red curls in a finger. "I didn't know the song already, and they gave us papers with the lyrics. I couldn't . . . I couldn't make sense of the lyrics, so when we started to practice, I couldn't follow along and we kept having to stop and start over because of me."

"Ahh," Jesper nodded. "It's alright, Wylan. I'll help you out if you want. Do you remember the song name?"

Wylan was dyslexic, and had an endless amount of trouble reading. He could do math, draw, and play an instrument like it was as easy as breathing, but he couldn't read worth anything. They all tried to help him as much as possible, reading aloud to him, or quizzing him instead of him studying text books. He also recorded the lectures. When it came to tests, Wylan was left with another member of the faculty who read the questions aloud, and Wylan answered them vocally. Inej and Kaz totally hadn't gone around and threatened and/or bribed Wylan's teachers into letting him test that way.

Wylan smiled at Jesper. "Sure! Thanks, Jesper. I think it was Broken Glass, or something,"

Kaz smiled to himself. He'd never admit it, but he would never give up the people he was around. People said he would do anything for the right price. It was mostly true. But he'd never give up Inej, or Jesper, or Wylan, or Nina, or Matthias. 

Inej bumped Kaz on the shoulder. Kaz looked over at her, wondering. He couldn't rarely stand skin-to-skin contact, but through fabric, nothing bothered him much. "What?"

"Once the blizzards over, do you wanna go outside and play in the snow?" Her dark brown eyes glittered.

Kaz hesitated. The cold always made his bad leg ache, and he wasn't much of a fan of snow anyway. Or rain. Or wind. Or sun. Kaz only liked one type of weather: Cloudy, and nothing more. But he could stand sometime out there. "Do  _I_ have to play to, or can I just watch?"

Inej thought about it. "I'd rather you play with us, but if your leg hurts too much, you can sit out . . ."

Kaz groaned internally. He didn't want to go around in the snow, making a fool of himself. But Inej was looking at him hopefully, biting her lip nervously, waiting for him to answer. And he didn't really want to disappoint her. He should. He should just say no. But . . . "Fine."

"Really!?" she exclaimed. Inej didn't really speak loudly, but she adored snow. She hadn't lived near any particularly cold places back in India, and her parents hated cold weather, so they rarely traveled during the colder seasons. Even after living in Europe for 4 years (1 of those being in captivity), she still found snow amazing.

The others, who seemed to be arguing about who would be shoveling the snow off the sidewalk later, all looked up. "What?"

Inej smiled, her eyes twinkling, a laugh bubbling up in her lips, her lips turning up beautiful. Kaz's breath hitched.  _Damn it . . ._ Kaz hated how much he loved her smile, her laugh. It made him feel giddy, almost drunk. The fact that he'd caused it only made him feel more satisfied. 

"Kaz said that he'd play in the snow with us once the storm died down!" she told them.

The other's grinned, but in Kaz's mind, none of them could even begin to compete with Inej's. "Seriously?"

Matthias grinned. "Oh, this is great. I'll be getting my revenge soon, Brekker."

Kaz scoffed. "Let's see you try, Helvar. I'll have you weeping in the snow by the end of it all."

"I bet on Kaz!" Jesper immediately called out. "15 dollars!"

The others shook their head, but they all played along. "I'm putting 15 on Matthias. He's practically a snowman." Nina said.

"Kaz," Inej said "Definitely."

Wylan considered it. "Usually, I'd bet Kaz on pretty much everything, but I think Matthias will win this time."

Matthias crossed his arms, and sat back. "So, we're equal. But have no doubt about it, Brekker, I'm going to beat your filthy demon ass into the snow."

Kaz smirked. It no longer scared the crew most of the time (sometimes his glares still did), although it did give him the demonic edge Matthias was always preaching about Kaz having. "Good luck, Matthias. You'll need it,"

Matthias harrumphed. 

Nina and Inej laughed, while Jesper and Wylan just shared a 'you're gonna lose,' 'no, _you're_ gonna lose,' look.

Kaz leaned back into the couch, letting himself smile the slightest bit. It was snowing so much, the University would probably be forced to call it a Snow Day, which would give them plenty of time to try and kill each other in the snow. They didn't have any appointments tomorrow, and just in case, they'd take care of all their work that night.

Even criminals needed a day off.

Nina looked up at the ceiling. "Oh, I need knew gloves . . ."

Kaz shrugged. "We'll shoplift them later."

Inej looked at him, deadpanning. "Kaz . . ."

"What? It's just a minor felony."

The others rolled their eyes, but Kaz knew none of them really minded. It was a calm sort of moment for all of them. Inside their little house, being their own little club, it was easy. Their house was the calm, outside the storm.

Kaz had to chuckle at that. Calm  _during_ the storm.

* * *

 


	2. A Day In The Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew spends a day in the snow. Inej and Kaz build a snowman. Matthias and Kaz face off. Jesper and Nina become royalty. Wylan is a total boss-sculpture. And a moment of bonding between Nina and Inej (completely platonic. These two are like a brotp to me, I don’t actually ship them).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really edit this, so there are probably a ton of mistakes.

**Inej**

 

Matthias had to ram into the door of the house for them to get out. 

It had to be at least 8 inches of snow.

Jesper whistled. "That's insane."

The others nodded mutely. Definitely a snow day. 

Inej, clad in two sweaters, a black and purple jacket, purple snow boots, and two leggings, was the first to step into the snow. Her gloved hands adjusted her somewhat-sparkly purple earmuffs. As her foot landed in the snow, she sunk only a bit. 

Jesper followed after her as Inej walked farther into the yard. Unlike Inej, he sunk right into the snow. The others stared at Inej. "How do you that? You're barely leaving a mark."

Inej shrugged. "I don't know, but Nina, guess what?"

"What?" Nina stepped onto the snow.

Inej moved quickly, grabbing a handful of snow and throwing it into Nina's face. Nina gasped and stumbled backwards. "Inej!"

Inej smiled. "What? I didn't do anything. You didn't see me throw that snow."

Nina glared, but Kaz cut her off as he slowly walked on the snow. "People rarely see you, Wraith. You can't really use that as an argument." He was wearing his usual long black coat, with a tight-fitting black wool sweater under it in which he had looked unfairly good in, and his tight leather gloves, as well as a black scarf and boots.  

Inej laughed, watching as Kaz's eyes darted to her for a moment, then went back to the snow.

He liked her laugh. Inej knew he did. He perked up when ever she did, paid more attention, and although he didn't notice it, he started to smile too. Inej scooped another handful of snow, but he didn't seem to notice. She walked closer to Kaz. "Hey, Kaz?"

He glanced up again, his foot already moving backwards to dodge, but he couldn't escape the flurry of fluffy snowflakes she blew into his face.

Kaz grumbled as he wiped his face. " _ Inej _ ."

Inej laughed, twirling in the snow. 

Matthias walked into the snow, feeling it under his bare hands. For protection, her wore only large dark gray snow boots and a grey sweater, not seeming to mind the cold as much as the rest of them. Suddenly, he plopped onto his back, and started to make a snow angel. 

The others watched him, smiles quirking their lips. Nina, who wore a beautiful long red coat not unlike Kaz's, dumped a handful of snow onto Matthias, who shook it out of his face, and grinned up at her. "You look pretty with snowflakes in your hair,"

Nina rolled her eyes, but she was obviously pleased by the compliment. 

Wylan followed out to where Jesper, in a sparkling cranberry jacket, yellow earmuffs,  and lime green boots, was gathering snow into large bricks. Wylan was wearing a simple dark gray jacket with light blue highlights, black earmuffs, and grey boots, with a matching scarf. "What are you doing, Jesper?"

Jesper looked up at Wylan. "I'm making myself a throne. This will be my ice court,"

Wylan snorted. "I just realized: Jesper Fahey. Jack Frost. You have the same initials,"

Jesper laughed. "I am the mighty Jesper Frost! Bow before me!"

Nina walked over to them, after having buried most of Matthias in the snow like if it were sand and not small flakes of ice. "Wait, wait, wait, back it up. I'm totally going to be the Queen."

"What's your name?" Jesper asked.

"Nina Arendelle,"

"Play on ‘Frozen’, witch?"

She nodded, smiling. They called Nina a witch sometimes as a joke, since when Matthias and her first met, he was pretty sure she was a witch. And he wasn’t wrong either. She was a Grisha Heartrender. Inej could imagine her dressing up like Elsa, but in red.

Jesper grinned back. "You're in, Arendelle. Let's make the best thrones ever!"

"Yeah!"

Wylan shook his head bemusedly as the two attacked the snow.

Inej laughed, tugging at Kaz. "Come one. Let's build something before you and Matthias try to kill each other." she said, grinning up at him.

Kaz's face, which Inej noticed was a bit flushed do to the cold, fought a smile. "Okay, what?"

"Just a snowman."

Behind her, she heard Wylan comment: "So, I wonder if anyone is going to comment on the fact that two 20 year old's, three 21 year old's, and one 22 year old are all playing like a bunch of little kids?"

Nina laughed. "What does it matter? We've never cared about what people think of us before."

Inej had to admit, she often forgot they all weren't the same age. She and Wylan were the youngest at 20, while Kaz, Nina, and Jesper were all 21. Matthias was 22, but it never felt like there was a difference. They were all the same, somehow. All of them were wise beyond their years, but all of them had some semblance of a child in them, even Kaz. It was easy to forget that there was a difference.

Especially when Kaz had put her in the same grade as her, Nina, and Jesper. Matthias and Wylan were the only two who weren't on their second-to-last year.

Inej kneeled into the snow, gathering a small ball, and beginning to roll it. "This is going to be the bottom. Take care of the middle, okay?"

Kaz mumbled something she imagined was an agreement. She peered up at him to see him watching her, his dark coffee eyes partly hidden by his long black eyelashes. Inej felt her face warm, but tried to ignore it. Kaz looked away after a moment, his eyes flicking to the side, before kneeling down next to her and beginning to make a ball like her. 

They worked in silence, until a few minutes later, Inej found herself needing to stand to push the large snowball. Kaz's lips twitched as she watched her struggle against the large, icy sphere. "Need some help?"

Inej sighed. "Yeah. Could you just roll it a few more times? It only needs to be a bit bigger."

Kaz stood and pushed the ball easily, making Inej huff. Kaz  _ was _ strong, and actually really well built under all his layers. She'd seen him in fights, and even without a shirt, enough times to know that. But sometimes it was frustrating that Inej couldn't be that strong. She was by no means weak. She was mostly lithe muscle, after all. But she wouldn't beat a man in a brawl with the same ease Kaz did. 

"There?" Kaz asked.

Inej studied the large snow-boulder. "Yup. Thanks, Kaz. Now, finish up the middle."

"Yes ma'am," Kaz rolled his eyes, and leaned down to finish the body. Inej smiled, and leaned down to make the head. 

She watched as Kaz lifted the middle of the snowman onto the bottom, imagining how his arms looked, muscles straining under the weight. She fought the urge to fan her face, as she usually did at anything slightly scandalizing. Inej tried her hardest not to let her past creep up on her, and now, most of Nina's and Jesper's lewd jokes didn't bother her. But still, she was never a person of dirty jokes and innuendos and implications in the first place. That didn't mean she didn't have thoughts though. And those thoughts . . . were usually about Kaz. 

Inej slammed snow into her face.  _ Stooooop. _

When she looked up, Kaz was staring at her, head tilted. "What are you doing?"

Inej shook her head. "Um, nothing."

Kaz leaned in front of her, his hand, covered in his skin-tight leather gloves, brushing some snow from her nose. "You got snow flakes into your eyelashes." He tilted his head again, as if trying to look at her from an angle. "That actually works."

"What?"

His phone seemed to appear in his hand from nowhere. "Look."

He took a picture of her, and showed her the screen.

Inej's caramel skin was slightly flushed around her cheeks and nose, and small, wet strands of her hair were framing her face, escaped from her tight braid. Her eyes were partly lidded, but seemed really bright, and small snowflakes were caught in her inky black lashes.

Inej smiled at the picture. "You're right, it does work,"

Kaz made a humming noise as he slipped his phone into one of his countless pockets. "Is that the head?"

"Yeah. Let me finish it up. You think you could find the snowman some arms and a nose?" Inej asked.

"Does it have to be a carrot nose?"

"No,"

"Then yes,"

Inej briefly wondered what was wrong with a carrot nose, then remembered that Kaz didn't particularly like them. Or lettuce. He really didn't like lettuce.

Kaz went to break some of the bottom branches of one of the trees in the yard. Inej rolled the snow-head some more, listening as Wylan and Jesper argued about dimensions while Nina chided then, telling them it  _ doesn't even matter, you two, just make it so that it fits for Jesper.  _ Matthias seemed to be quietly building a figure . . . a wolf? He was surprisingly good. 

Inej stood and grabbed the head, thankful that it was the smallest piece, and topped off their snowman. She smoothed out the snowman, and waited for Kaz to come back.

He did, snow flecking his hair from when the branches above had let some snow drop. "Here."

Inej took the sticks from him, sticking them on either side of the snowman, and a considerably shorter stick for the nose. "What should be the eyes and mouth?"

Kaz thought about it. "Almonds for the mouth?"

"Sure . . . and grapes for the eyes!" Inej decided. 

Kaz raised his eyebrows, but agreed nonetheless. "I'll go get them."

"Thanks,"

Inej watched as Jesper started to make the back of his throne. It was very angular, made of snow bricks, big and pointy. She had to admit, it reminded Inej of Jesper himself. Nina's was a big pile of snow she'd shaped, making it an elegant, soft and curvy throne, just like her. She was still missing the arm rests. Wylan had begun to make something as well, long and thing. It looked like . . . the startings of a cup.

Crow and Cup, she realized. She had to fight back a smile as she watched Wylan contemplate the proportions of what he'd already made. Of course he would built a monument to how how life changed. 

Kaz came back, a handful of almonds in one hand, and two grapes in the other. He handed her the grapes as he began to position the almonds. "Do I have to make it smiley?" Kaz asked.

Inej pondered over it for a moment.  "Don't make it frown. That's all,"

Kaz nodded, like ' _ I can live with that _ '.

Inej pushed in the two grapes. She wondered what they would look like after the had frozen. Kaz, who was close enough for them to brush against each other, aligned the almonds into a line that lifted at one end. "Is it smirking?" Inej asked.

Kaz nodded, smirking a little bit himself. 

They stepped back from the snowman. "And now, it needs accessories." 

"Like what?" Kaz asked. 

Inej took of her earmuffs, placing them on the snowman head. "Like this," the turned to Kaz and unwound the scarf from his neck and placed it around the snowman, "and this."

Kaz didn't seem to mind that his neck was no partly exposed to the cold. He looked at the snowman, his head tilted to the side again. His scheming face, even if he wasn't scheming. "I guess it looks alright,"

Inej took her gloves off (she had tighter ones underneath), and placed them on the snowman's arms. "Anything else you want to add?"

Kaz thought about it, then went back to the tree, ripping of two short twigs, about as long as Inej's index finger. He set them above the grapes, slightly askew, to complete the 'I'm better than you, die!' look.

Inej snorted. "Okay," she relented. "It looks pretty good."

Kaz smiled at her, a small thing that lit up his eyes. Inej smiled back. "What are we naming our fantastic snowman?"

"It's not a child, Inej,"

"Yes it is! We created it! It's our child!"

Kaz raised his eyebrows at her. Inej paused. "Okay . . . that did come out a bit weird. But it still deserves a name, the same way you might title a drawing!"

"Or an exceptional heist,"

Inej rolled her eyes. "Yes, or an exceptional heist."

Nina waltzed over to them. "Call in 'Kanej'."

Both Inej and Kaz looked at her, confused, but behind Nina, Jesper had started to laugh, and even Wylan was looking at them, a grin on his face. Matthias seemed utterly un-bothered by everything as he tried to finish making the small wolf sculpture. "What's that?"

"Your ship name."

Inej frowned at Nina. "I've heard people use that term before, although not in the context that would be relevant to an actual ship . . ."

Nina laughed. "Oh, sweetheart, little honey bun Inje-"

"Excuse you?"

"Ship. It's short for relationship."

"Wouldn't our relationship be called friendship?" Kaz pointed out.

Jesper sighed. "No, no. When you 'ship' someone, it means you want them to get together. A ship name can be the mixing of names, like for Wylan and me, Wesper, or the mixing of words that apply to them, like Chemical Gamble, or even a phrase, like 'You're cuter when you're smart', or 'Maybe I liked your stupid face!'"

Wylan started to cough a bit. "That's horrible. And is this your equivalent of asking me out? Because you have kissed me quite a whole lot, but not actually asked me out."

Jesper looked up at Wylan. "What are you talking about? It's brilliant. Like you. And yes, it is."

Wylan looked away, face bright red, but Inej paid little mind to them as her gears started to turn.

"Oh . . ." Inej started to blush. "Wait, are you two saying you . . . ship? . . . Kaz and I?"

"Exactly so, little Wraith," Jesper told her.

Inej turned to Kaz, who refused to look at her, and was instead glaring at Nina. "No. We're not calling the snowman Kanej."

"Inez?"

"No,"

"Criminal Royalty?"

Inej had to admit, she kind of like that one, but Kaz was having none of it. "What even-? No."

"Killer Love?"

" _ No, _ "

"Magical Shadows?"

"No,"

I know, I know!" Jesper called out. "How about: In Denial!"

"No!" Kaz threw his hands up in the air. "Why are we even talking about this?"

"Are you saying you aren't in denial?" Nina and Jesper prodded. 

Kaz glared at them darkly. They didn't back down, but Inej could see the slightest shiver go down their spines. "If either one of you brings this up even once more, I'll boil you alive and drop your remains into the ocean."

Nina and Jesper looked like they wanted to argue, but in the end both of them just turned away, not wanting to risk Kaz's wrath.

After a moment of silence, Inej spoke up. "So . . . what  _ do _ we name it?"

"I don't know, maybe after one of your Saints?"

"Okay then," Inej smiled. "Boy or girl?"

Kaz frowned at her. "It's a snowman. It either has no gender, because it's made of snow, or a male."

"Male it is. Sankta Petyr?"

"Sure."

Somehow, Kaz procured a bottle of black ink. He carefully dabbed it onto the snowman's middle, spelling out  **Sankta Petyr** in his messy scrawl.

They stood, and considered their creation. Kaz made a quiet laughing sound. "I haven't made a snowman in years. Maybe since I was 8?"

Inej stared at him. "I mean, I only made my first snowman 3 years ago, but seriously? Not since you were 8? And how long have you lived in the city?" Kaz liked to say he was made in the Barrel, the worst part of Ketterdam, but Inej had asked around before. Although no one knew where Kaz cam from, he'd been in the city since he was nine, and had made acquaintance with the older Dregs, now mostly gone or dead, when he was 12. The Dregs, which were a gang in Ketterdam, made mostly of dangerous teenagers and young adults, came to be in Kaz's power when he was 17. Kaz knew she knew he wasn't originally from Ketterdam. But it was true: Kaz was the sort of person only manufactured in the Barrel. 

Kaz did the math. "I'm 21 now . . . 21 minus 9 is 12. So about 12 years."

Inej shook her head. "You've lived in this cold as all hell city for 12 years, and not once have you made a snowman. That is a different type of sin than usual, Kaz, but still horrible."

Kaz rolled his eyes. "Right,"

Suddenly, Matthias got up and shouted: "Brekker! It's time!"

Jesper broke in. "To d-d-d-d-d-duel!"

Wylan face palmed. 

Matthias had set the wolf figurine on the back of Nina's throne, and he looked ready to pummel Kaz into the ground good-naturally. Actually, Matthias was grinning widely. Guess he really misses the snow.

Kaz only looked at Matthias, unimpressed. "Sure. Rules, or free?"

Matthias snorted. "Like I'll let you do anything without rules in place. You might bend them, but it has to count for something."

Kaz shrugged.

"Anyway," Matthias continued. "The rules will be: No weapons except the snow. We can use our hands, but only to push each other. We can't throw actual ice into each others faces. Snow, which yes, I am aware is technically ice, is fine, but actual pieces of ice isn't. We have an hour to build a fort. It can be anywhere in the vicinity of the house. Once the time has started, which is right after the time limit for the forts. We aren't allowed to hit anyone else, unless they're getting in the way. All the snowballs we use have to be stored in the forts. You can use the snow outside, but it won't count as an official hit. First person to hit the other person 30 times, or whoever has hit the other person the most by the time the time limit, which will be 45 minutes, is done wins."

Jesper, who had stopped smoothing out his throne a bit to pay attention, whistled. "Wow. This is like war games or something. Matty really thought about it."

Matthias turned to Jesper, scowling. "Don't call me that,"

"Sure, Tulip."

The others laughed, while Matthias just rolled his eyes. "Nina, are you timing us?"

Nina took out her phone. "Sure, let me just put it in . . . "

Kaz looked at Inej. "This is going to be disastrous."

"Why?"

Kaz looked around. People were starting to come out of their houses from the street down. The house the six of them shared had no neighbors on any sides, but the houses started up again a block down. People were glancing at them, getting closer to the house to get a good look at what they were all doing. People didn't usually near their house, but today, it seemed like there was going to be a small crowd. "People are watching. They're going to make this into a mock-war or something."

"I think Matthias already took care of that. Plus, you could just glare at them."

"Ready? Set . . . Go!" Nina shouted.

Kaz glanced at her quickly. "Then I'd be wasting time."

He dashed behind the house. Inej could see his limp, but for some reason, he seemed to hardly be paying it any attention. 

Matthias had already headed to the trees, starting to build.

Inej shrugged. "It'll all play out eventually,"

* * *

 

Inej was done with the crowds. They had started to gather, and she kept hearing not-so-whispered phrases among the people, like “Why are they playing in the snow like children?”, “Aren’t they supposed to be scary?”, “What are they even doing? Half these things don’t make sense.”, and the winner, “Even Dirtyhands and his Wraith made something. That snowman has their stuff all over it. Maybe they aren’t as scary as we thought,”

Inej leaned down into the snow, packing a sufficient amount into her hands, and threw it at the boy who had said the last comment, hitting him in the face. “Wanna bet?”

Her glare must have been more vicious than she’d realized, because they boy gulped and slunked to the edge of the crowd. 

Inej didn’t particularly like everything she (and Kaz) had done to make her reputation, but she knew it kept her safe. It was a sort of protective layer. Thanks to what she’d done in the past, the barely needed to lift a finger to get someone to back off.

Inej sighed, and continued to watch as Kaz and Matthias ran around the yard like little kids. Kaz even had the slightest suggestion of a smile on his face, and his limp wasn’t as bad as she imagined it would be. 

At one point, her ran near to her. “Duck,” he whispered. 

She dropped to the floor, not questioning him. A snowball flew over them, a bit off since Matthias had gotten nervous when aiming due to Kaz’s proximity to Inej. 

The snowball hit Nina square on the back.

They were all quiet for a moment, before Nina slowly turned. “Matthias . . .”

Matthias whimpered a small apologetic noise, then turned from her, starting to flee. But he had forgotten about Kaz for a moment. Kaz sprung up and tossed two snowballs in quick succession on Matthias, both hitting true. “15  _ and  _ 16, Helvar!”\

Matthias didn’t have time to give more than a glare, because Nina has tackled the snow, and had come up with several balls. She started to run towards Matthias, who quickly turned in the other direction.

“Stay still, you baboon! Let me get my revenge!”

Inej burst out laughing at Matthias’ reply. He’d been spending too much time with Jesper. “Hell to the no!”

Kaz watched her as she laughed, seemingly entranced for a moment. Matthias risked running backwards to launch a snowball at him, which hit Kaz on his left shoulder.

Kaz glared at Matthias, but he didn’t seem particularly worried over it. “That’s only you’re tenth hit, Helvar. And we have how much time left, Zenik?”

Nina threw a snowball into Matthias face before pulling her phone out. “20 minutes,”

Kaz smirked, sensing victory. Nina pocketed her phone again, and cast Matthias an evil grin. 

Matthias back away nervously. “Uh,”

With a shriek, Nina, grabbed a large handful of snow into Matthias’ face again, pushing him into the snow. Matthias scrambled backwards, trying to stand up, but she continued to attack him with a flurry of snowflakes.

Kaz chuckled besides Inej, and went to lengthen his lead again Matthias.

Jesper whistled. “Damn. Nina has a great arm,”

“That she does,”

* * *

 

Nina and Jesper sat on their thrones, looking at Kaz and Matthias with mock-royalty faces. The crowds had only grown more, but after Kaz had hit someone in the stomach and Jesper took a handgun from one of his pockets and cheerfully threatened everyone, not a single person had tried to mention how childish they were all acting. 

Nina cleared her throat. “We are gathered here today-”

“It isn’t a wedding,” Jesper interrupted.

“Shut up. Anyway, we are gathered here today to announce the victor of the revenge fight between Matthias Helvar,” Nina nodded at him, “And Kaz Brekker.”

Kaz rolled his eyes. It had taken forever to get him to stand in front of the thrones. He had refused to role play along with the rest of them, who were all kneeling in the snow. But even in a game, Kaz Brekker kneeled to no one.

“The winner, according to the rules that have been set and gone over before the match,” Jesper said. “Is . . .”

He paused dramatically. They already knew who it was. They had all watched the final snowball be thrown during the last 5 seconds. It hadn’t exactly been a tie breaker, but it was still impressive. 

“KAZ BREKKER!” Nina and Jesper both raised their hands in a flourish, then gestured at Kaz like he was some sort of star athlete, or big reveal.

Kaz sighed. “Anyway, I believe you all have some money to exchange?”

Jesper jumped up. “That we do! Hand it over, guys, hand it over.”

Nina grumbled. “Oh shut up, Fahey. Plus, my purse is inside. I’ll give it to you later.”

Jesper shrugged, but him and Inej shared a satisfied look. They both knew to never bet against Kaz. “Hey, Wylan,” Jesper turned to the boy, who had been in his own world at the corner of the yard for a while now. Inej noticed he was surrounded by people. How hadn’t she seen them before. “Did you hear? You lost the de- damn.”

Inej had to agree. During the time that they had all been watching Matthias and Kaz play, Wylan had built a beautiful snow sculpture. He’d finished the Crow and Cup, the final product being about 4 feet tall. It had all the details of the insignia of the Dregs, and even had more details, like pattern-like wisps, ruffled feathers, and was in general something completely amazing. 

Many of the people in the crowd were taking photos, ‘ooh’ing and ‘aah’ing.

“ _ Wylan _ ,” Inej started. “It’s beautiful,”

Wylan turned to her, blushing. “Thanks, Inej. Honestly, it just kind of happened.”

Jesper hooted. “That’s our little merchling for you!” he went over to Wylan, swinging an arm around him. “It’s amazing, Wylan.”

Wylan grinned.

Kaz stepped up behind Inej. “It really is impressive.” he told her, but he said it loud enough for Wylan to hear. The red-curled boy straightened at the compliment. Kaz rarely handed praise out, and even Nina and Matthias liked it when he said something slightly nice to them. 

Inej hoped no one would try and destroy everything they had all worked on. As the crowds of people finally left (Nina released a chemical in them to make them insanely tired), they all continued to mess around. They piled most of the extra snow in the yard higher and higher, until only Jesper and Matthias were any good at building it up, then smoothed it down to make a snow slide.

Wylan went first, grabbing a random platter from the kitchen. The slide was thin and tall (almost like Jesper), and was maybe 5 feet and a half. Inej felt a bit put out that it was taller than her.

Wylan slid down the steep slide, giggling when the was thrown off at the end of if. The others laughed, and Jesper went next. It jarred him so badly that he flopped face first into the snow. After a moment, he held a thumbs up to indicate he was ‘all good’.

Matthias and Kaz both refused to go, but Nina went up without hesitation. She ended up sprawled on the floor, giggling and spitting out snow.

“It’s your turn, Inej,” Nina told her.

“I don’t really-”

Nina fixed her with a look, and nodded at Matthias, who sighed. “Sorry, Inej, but . . .”

He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up the ground.

“H-hey!” she struggled in his grip. The Fjerdian didn’t seemed bothered, simply tightening his grip. Why was he so  _ strong _ ?

Jesper set the platter above the slide, and Matthias sat her on it, holding her into place.

Inej turned to Kaz helplessly, burt he shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips. Inej glared at him, but then suddenly she was pushed forward, sliding down fast. “He- Fudge!”

Inej literally went  _ flying _ when she reached the bottom, halting suddenly due to a small wall of snow.

She rolled onto the snow for several feet, then made a final touchdown with a thump, and for a moment, everyone just stared. Kaz and Nina were the first to move toward her. “Inej, are you-” Nina started.

Inej lifted her head, eyes wide with excitement. “That. Was. Awesome.”

Jesper laughed, while the rest just looked at Inej like she was crazy. “See? Isn’t that rush of adrenaline when you do something stupid great?”

Kaz shook his head. “Fudge? Really, Inej?”

“What?”

“You can’t use the actual curse, or what?” Kaz asked. “‘Fudge’ is just a bit childish.”

Inej rolled her eyes, but didn’t dispute it. She got up, and grabbed the platter. “Again,”

* * *

 

They played in the snow for the rest of the day, sliding down, making Sankta Petyr a bunch of mini-snowman companions, and generally just being . . . kids. Even Kaz let himself relax a bit, although he did shove a handful of snow down Jesper’s throat when Jesper made a stupid comment about how Sankta Petyr was the result of a scandalous affair between Kaz and Elsa from Frozen. 

Later, when the boys had headed inside, there was only Nina and Inej left. They sat under one of the trees in silence, until Nina asked Inej a question. “Did you ever have friends like this before?”

Inej knew what she was asking. Before being the Wraith, before commiting crimes, before being kidnapped and sold into a brothel. “I . . . not really. I was happy, but I didn’t have friends. It was me and my family. Cousins, aunts, uncles, my mother and father. We all loved each other, and we played with each other, but . . .” Inej’s eyebrows creased closer. She had never really thought about her friendships before Kaz and Nina and Wylan and Jesper and Matthias. “But there’s a difference in between family and friends. For my family, friends are family, and family, friends. But after knowing all of you, it’s not quite the same.”

Nina nodded. “I get what you mean. Family are the people, but sometimes your friends are . . . different.”

Inej nodded. It was difficult to explain. Her previous family was her relatives, and she loved them. Now, her friends were a different sort of family. Not like the one she had been familiar with. “What about you?”

Nina shrugged. “My friends from before meeting Matthias, before coming to Ketterdam . . . They are dear to me. I know I would do anything for them. But . . .” Nina grabbed Inej’s hand. “There’s a difference between close friends and best friends.”

Inej smiled. “That there is. I don’t think I could go around killing people with only  _ close _ friends.”

Nina laughed. “And I don’t think close friends would hide you from the authorities like a best friend would.”

“Or tell you to do something that might possibly get you all killed.”

“Or trust you with your life, even when you are a bona fide idiot.”

The two girls laughed. “Best friends?”

“Yeah,”

After a tentative moment, Inej asked another question. “Sisters?”

Nina thought about it. “Yeah. I’ve always wanted a sister.”

 

**Next Chapter: They go back to school! Probably from Jesper or Wylan's P.O.V, I'm not sure yet, but Wylan will be blowing something up nonetheless.**


	3. Just Another Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang goes back to school a long weekend thanks to their snow day. Wylan blows up a little bomb. Nina is asked for relationship advice, which ends up with some questionable jokes. Jesper tries to ask Kaz about ship names. Kaz breaks into the dance club's locker room. Matthias is just done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in the past, I said Matthias was Russian and that Inej got kidnapped in Spain, but I'm going to make my life easier and make it so that Kerch, Novyi Zem, Ravka, Fjerda, Shu Han, and all those other places are actual things. If you see anything I have to fix, just point it out to me. 
> 
> Also, again, Nina and Inej are just best friends, and by no means are the jokes to be taken seriously. I mean, sometimes female friends flirt with each other for no reason. 
> 
> And I know I said Inej was kinda weird with dirty jokes, but I felt the need to make her laugh here. 
> 
> NOT EDITED

**Jesper**

 

Jesper had to admit, there were no mornings like the ones with the Dregs when they were getting ready for school. They weren’t even that chaotic (usually), but there was still something that seemed special about morning that he spent with the others.

Wylan and Matthias always got up early so they could get ready and start making breakfast, so Jesper wasn't surprised when he saw them already in the kitchen. Wylan was looking a bit scorched from some late night experiment, but was still dodging Matthias' bulk while the latter took out ingredients and Wylan began to cook. The two made a surprisingly good team, although that could just be because they were the most sane people in the group. 

When Wylan spotted Jesper, he waved a little. "Hi Jesper. Could you tell Inej to come down to the kitchen when she's ready? I'm trying out one of her recipes."

Jesper nodded, then stretched his arms. He didn't usually get up this early, but the last few days of rest had him waking up before his alarm. Ridiculous. 

Jesper turned to the door that opened to his left, watching as Kaz walked out, already changed. There was only one bedroom on the first floor, and it was Kaz's, because all of them had ganged up on him and refused to let him walk up several stairs to one of the bedrooms above. (Wylan had the basement, Kaz had a bedroom on the first floor. Nina, Matthias, and Jesper all had a bedroom on the top floor, and Inej had the attic). 

There was one kitchen down in the basement, and one on the first floor. The living room was right next to said kitchen, and was the room people came into when they stepped into the house. There was a bathroom in the basement, one on the first floor, and one on the second floor. Jesper wondered why the house had been built and who had lived there when it was still new. It must had been a very large family. Technically, this house was too big for just six people. Inej and Nina could have bunked in one room. Wylan and Matthias (because Matthias and Kaz was a horrible idea, and Wylan and Jesper really much too magnificent) could have shared a room, and if Kaz wouldn’t have murdered Jesper to avoid having to share, him and Jesper would have shared a room. Jesper imagined it was closer to 10 people living in the house or something. 

Kaz nodded in greeting, his cane back in his hand. Yesterday he’d gone without it, claiming it wouldn’t be much help with the snow. “Morning, Jes.”

Jesper grinned. “Hey Kaz. Ready to go back to terrorizing the whole campus?”

Kaz shrugged and poured himself a cup of coffee. Although they all rarely mentioned it, Kaz had a bit of a sweet tooth, so he took his coffee black with several spoonfuls of sugar. Jesper made a face. He like sugar, sure, but he didn’t like it in excess. Sometimes. Waffles were an exception. 

Jesper didn’t drink a lot of coffee, honestly. He didn’t need the extra energy. And after the last time he had Red Bull, he was practically banned from energy drinks.

Inej came down next. She didn’t like getting changed right away in the mornings, so she was still in her pajamas, which were light purple and satiny. Nina’s doing. 

“Good morning, guys,” she yawned, and asked Kaz to hand her a mug. She turned over to Jesper. “You’re up early.”

Jesper shrugged. “My body is more than rested after 3 nights of actual sleep and no 3 am jobs.”

Inej nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean.”

She filled her cup with water and put it into the microwave, ducking as Wylan threw a bag of cheese over to Matthias. She didn’t like coffee, and preferred tea. 

Wylan looked at her. “Oh, Inej. I guess Jesper didn’t need to get you. Anyway, remember that Suli recipe you told me about, the pan bread? I tried it out. What do you think?”

Immediately, Inej perked up. “Pan bread? Let me see!”

Matthias and Kaz both stopped to watch her lift a piece. “It looks right,” she told Wylan, then took a bite.

For a moment, they all just watched her chew. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she swallowed. She hugged Wylan. “It’s great! You really understood what I meant!”

Wylan stumbled a little, his face flushing. “Really?”

Inej nodded eagerly. “Really. I mean, I haven’t had pan bread in ages! Of course, everyone makes it a little different, but this,” she paused. “This tastes just how my mother used to make it.”

She grinned at Wylan, than took another piece, handing it to Kaz, then one for Jesper. Jesper bit into the bread. He blinked several times, savoring the taste of the herbs, and the texture of the bread. It felt a bit home-y, like how Inej alway described it. Warm and fluffy, but crispy too.

“This is really good,” he said after swallowing.

Matthias also grabbed a piece, biting into it carefully. He reacted similarly. “Wow,”

Kaz was still holding his piece, as if skeptical. Inej looked at him and smiled, which pretty much sealed the deal for Kaz, who took a tentative bite. He raised his eyebrows, impressed. “It’s good,” he told Wylan. Kaz turned to Inej. “Are all your foods so good?”

Inej beamed at him. Honestly, they all loved her smile. There was something so serene and angelic and  _ good _ in her smiles. No wonder Kaz was head-over-heels for it. And her. “Most are. I don’t really like the sour foods, but Papa was always rather fond of them. Most of our food is actually sort of spicy,”

Kaz shook his head a bit. “As long as it isn’t too spicy.”

“Depends on the person,” Inej admitted. 

Wylan and Matthias started to put plates in everyone’s favorite places. Jesper, Matthias, and Kaz liked to eat breakfast on the island, while Inej and Nina liked to eat on the coffee table in the living room. They didn’t actually have a dining table, and the dining room had been transformed into a side section of the living room. Wylan liked to eat curled up on the couch. Somehow, he managed to never dirty it. 

Breakfast was pan bread, eggs with cheese, and little breakfast sausages that Jesper loved to eat in two bites.

Nina finally joined them once it was already served, her eyes still bleary and her hair a mess of brown curls. “I smell something yummy,”

She went over to Matthias to kiss him on the cheek, then sat down next to Inej. Jesper saw her whisper a quick prayer of thanks to her Saints, and then they all thanked Wylan and Matthias. 

They all ate fast, especially Nina, who seemed to swallow the pan bread whole. “Almost as good as waffles,”

Inej rolled her eyes, but still had a smile on her face as she sipped her tea. “So, who’s doing what today?”

“I have cooking club today,” Nina offered. 

Jesper moaned. “Does that mean you’re bringing one of those monstrosities back?”

Nina looked offended. “I’m a perfectly good cook!” She turned to Matthias. “Right?”

Matthias winced. “Nina, love . . . It’s just that . . . Well, it could be better . . . ?”

Nina turned away from him. “Inej?”

Inej winced, not knowing what to tell her friend. “Um,”

Nina turned to her food, angrily shoving food into her mouth. “You’re all horrible,”

“That’s Matthias’ line,” Kaz pointed out.

They laughed. Matthias said that a lot. 

“Well,” Inej looked over at Wylan. “We have practice today, music and dance. Kaz, you said-”

Kaz smirked a little. “Don’t worry about it, Wraith. I already have something in mind.”

Inej raised her eyebrows, but nodded. 

Matthias shrugged. “Practice might be canceled today, or we might just work in the gym. Who knows,”

Matthias was on the football team, due to a bunch of people’s encouragement that he would ‘bring honor to Ketterdam University’. Matthias really liked honor. 

Jesper looked at Inej. “Can I come watch you and Wylan today?”

“Sure,”

And so they ate. Just 6 university students enjoying breakfast with each other.

 

* * *

 

Jesper loved driving.

The others hated it when he drove, but at least it got them to school fast.

Jesper sped down the road grinning like a maniac. “Isn’t it great?”

“No!”

Nina shrieked as they barely managed to pass a car without taking shredding it’s side. “Jesper, I swear if you kill us before-”

Jesper turned the wheel violently, sending the others sprawling. Kaz, who was in the passenger seat, tightened his grip on the door handle as he tilted to the left. “Jes,” he warned.

“What? There’s no point in being criminals if we don’t drive dangerously,”

From the backseat, Matthias protested. “Except the fact that we would like to live!”

In response, Jesper just pressed harder on the gas pedal.

Inej grumbled. “For once, I’m glad that Ketterdam has practically no road laws. We would have been pulled over 20 times by now,”

Jesper grinned. “Now, now, Inej. You’ve got to admit there’s something thrilling about going fast,”

“Oh yeah,” Inej replied sarcastically. “It’s absolutely thrilling to have to worry about flying out a window whenever you drive, Jesper,”

Suddenly, he turned into the University parking lot, coming to a jarring stop. Everyone was thrown forward, and Wylan started to cough as his seat belt choked him.

Jesper hopped out out the car happily, grabbing his backpack. The others all got out shakily, except Inej, who didn’t let such things shake her footing, and Kaz, who was trying to look like his heart wasn’t in his throat. If he even has a heart.

“Come on, Wylan!” Jesper grabbed Wylan as they headed into the building. The two of them had most their classes together, which was good because Jesper could help Wylan with some of the things that required reading.

The others waved them off and headed towards their respective classes.

“Are you planning on blowing up the lab again?” Jesper asked as they passed their chemist teacher, Bo Yul-Bayur, whose eyes snapped up to them, caution flickering in his golden eyes.

Wylan huffed. “ _ You _ are the one who blows everything up even when I tell you not to mix things,”

“But you enjoy it, don’t you?” Jesper teased. “You pyromaniac, you.”

“Shut up,”

Jesper and Wylan sat down at their stations, waiting for the rest of the students to fill up the room. 

Once the class had started, Jesper began to twirl a pencil in his hand, already restless. Sitting still was such a  _ pain _ . That’s one reason why he was part of Kaz’s crew. There was always something going in, illegal or not, and the others didn’t mind his fidgeting. 

Or at least, not usually. Once, Jesper kept bouncing a bouncy ball on the wall, and Kaz had come out of his room and taken it from him, then put it in the microwave. It hadn’t been very bouncy afterwards.

The professor passed out sheets of papers for the procedure, and Jesper took the one in front of Wylan immediately, not wanting to see the boy’s brief flash of despair whenever he looked at something written and couldn’t understand it. 

Jesper set it under his own, and he read it aloud to Wylan in a hushed whisper as people began to move around them.

Wylan nodded along, asking him to repeat a few parts, until he stood up, taking off his jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his wool sweater, which Jesper thought he looked damn adorable in. 

Wylan handed him two vials, one with a red liquid, the other one with a green liquid. “Don’t,” he said slowly, “mix them.”

Jesper nodded and set them into little vial holders. Wylan let a couple drops of some weird clear liquid into the red vial, and a yellow-ish powder into the other one. The red one fizzed, while the purple one seemed to begin to boil.

Jesper noticed that Wylan as pocketing two small vials of the red liquid, a baggie of the yellow powder, and some aluminum foil. He raised his eyebrows, but didn’t question it.

They managed to get through the class without blowing something up (to both Wylan’s and Jesper’s surprise).

Next class: Agronomy for Jesper, to take a class his father would like, and Wylan to his Actuarial class. 

Jesper spent most of his time in Agronomy thinking about Wylan, guns, Wylan, gambling, Wylan, and breaking the law. The class wasn’t the most interesting thing for him, but he felt like after his betrayal to his father (which he didn’t even  know about), he would appreciate Jesper bothering to learn more about agriculture. He’d grown up in a farm, after all.

Then, they met up to go to Astronomy, something that interested them both because stars were stars, and space was space. It could be very complex, but despite Jesper’s easy-going attitude, he was still clever, and could usually follow what was going on.

Finally, lunch came. Jesper, Wylan, and the others all had the same time period cleared for lunch, because it made it simpler if they had to meet up before breaking into someone’s house. 

Wylan fiddled with the vials he had stolen. Jesper smirked at him. “Has Kaz been influencing you into stealing?”

Wylan looked away. “You’re  _ all _ influencing me. Although I’m still not big on seeing slit throats or bullets in people’s heads.”

Although to many people it might seem like a bad thing, Wylan and Jesper understood that in Ketterdam, especially the Barrel, it was good once you got used to such things. “You’ll get there. Anyway, what do those do?”

They sat down at a coffee shop as they waited for the others to show up, and Wylan started to explain everything to Jesper. “When you mix these two together, they become highly reactive to heat,” he waggled the vials and powder. “I was thinking I could make a little bomb,”

“A  _ little _ bomb?”

Wylan slapped him on the shoulder playfully. “Yes,  _ little _ .” he took a few random pieces of paper from his satchel and a lighter. “Do you want to try it out?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

Wylan smiled up at him, all dimples and curls and freckles, and Jesper couldn’t help leaning in and brushing their lips together. Jesper pulled away, and chuckled at Wylan’s surprised and pink face. 

“Uh,”

Jesper winked at him. “Bomb?”

Wylan fiddled with the vial, his eyes avoiding Jesper’s, then laid out a small square of aluminum foil, and ripping up paper and setting it on top of it. He opened the vials and poured some of the powder in, then shook them to mix the. It didn’t seem to do much more than make the liquid more gel-like to Jesper, but Wylan seemed satisfied. Wylan made a little pouch from the rest of the aluminum foil, and poured the liquid of both the vial into it. He folded it shut, then set it on top of the paper. Wylan set the paper alight and grabbed Jesper, pulling him away. 

At that moment, Nina and Inej came in. “Hey guys,” they said.

Nina turned to the burning pile on the table. “What is that?” she drew nearer while Inej moved away warily, bumping into Kaz as him and Matthias passed through the entrance.

“Nina,” Jesper started. “I would recommend step-”

With a loud  _ pop  _ and ripping noise, the pouch flew up into the air, broken and partly alight. When it landed again, the weird liquid fell into the flames, and the fire grew.

“Cool,” Wylan said.

Until the flames started to get higher.

“Not so cool,” Matthias grunted, moving to pull Nina away, who was standing in place, stunned, her hair singed. 

Wylan moved closer to the table and dumped the water he and Jesper had been given over the mess hurriedly, cursing under his breath when the flames skimmed his fingers. 

His sleeve caught fire.

“Shit shit shit,” he waved his arm around, trying to make it go out, and failing miserably. It climbed up his arms in licks or orange and yellow.  

Jesper had been laughing before, but now he grabbed the plastic water bottle in Inej’s hand and opened it over Wylan’s arm. The flame went out, and Wylan sighed in relief. 

Jesper and Wylan looked at each other, then burst out laughing. “That was so stupid,”

Kaz sighed and cleared up the table with a few napkins, throwing the remains of the small explosion into the trash. “That’s enough fire for the rest of lunch,” 

Nina inspected parts of her hair, sniffing at it. “Oh great. It smells like fire,”

Wylan smiled sheepishly. “Sorry,”

Inej frowned at Jesper. “My water,”

Jesper gestured at Wylan’s burned sleeve. “He was burning,”

“But my  _ water _ ,” Inej pouted.

“We’ll buy your another water bottle later, Inej,” Kaz said, motioning for the others to sit down and calling a waiter over.

They ordered their usuals (Nina- waffles, Wylan- hamburger, Jesper- beef burrito, Matthias- beef sandwich, Kaz- chicken sandwich, Inej- some weird chili thing Jesper didn’t know the name of, but knew was spicy).

As they waited for their food, Nina started to talk. “So,”

Inej looked up from her phone, playing some sort of game Wylan had told her to try out. Piano Tiles? “What?”

“I got asked for relationship advice,”

Jesper laughed. “You are  _ so _ not the person to go for that sort of stuff.”

Nina shot him a glare, then paused. “Well, actually, that’s pretty true. The only couple that started semi-normally, or has started at all,” she glanced at Kaz and Inej, “Is you and Wylan, and you guys are a bit . . . crazy and destructive?”

Wylan made an indignant sound, but didn’t actually say she was wrong. 

“And,” Nina continued, “Matthias and I wanted to kill each other when we first met, so there’s that,”

Matthias put his sandwich down. “Well, that’s when I was still stuck in my-”

“Discriminatory, racist, somewhat sexist, and Grisha-genocide ways of thinking? Yes, yes you were,” Nina patted his knee. “But you’re way better now,”

Matthias snorted. “Otherwise, you’d have killed me by now,”

“I might have kept you around considering you’re kissing skills,” Nina said. “Enemies with benefits and all that,”

Matthias choked on his orange juice. “Uh- I- No, Nina, no. Plus, I’m pretty sure the term is friends with benefits,”

“Like Kaz and Inej,” Jesper put in.  
The table went silent as Kaz and Inej looked at Jesper. He could practically see the dark smoke rising from them, their eyes flashing red. “Want to say that again?”

Jesper laughed nervously. “Uh, how about no?”

They glared at Jesper a little while longer, then looked at each other from the corner of their eyes, and started to eat again, as if trying to forget the whole thing. 

“In Denial,” Jesper whispered to Wylan, who tried to stifle a giggle.

“Anyway,” Nina continued. “These girls were all like:  _ You and Matthias are so cute together!  _ and  _ He’s so nice to you! I’ve heard him call you ‘love’ before,  _ and  _ Just how did you get such a perfect relationship? _ I think they forgot for a moment that I’m one of us.”

“How did you answer?” asked Jesper.

“I told them that I was a witch and was controlling him into doing my bidding and loving me,” she deadpanned.

Inej puffed out a breath. “Technically, that’s correct depending on your definition of  _ witch _ ,  _ controlling _ , and  _ bidding _ .”

Nina smiled. “That’s why I said it. Then they just stared at me. And this other girl asked:  _ Is that true _ ? I told her ‘ _ Yeah. And when we first met, he put me in a cell. And then we almost died. And then I put him in a prison. And then he almost died. And then when I got him out, he tried to choke me. And then we almost died again, and then I almost died again, and then we almost died  _ **_again_ ** _. But we’re much better now. He hasn’t even called me witch in a while _ ’.”

Inej and Jesper were laughing hard before she’d even finished. “Oh Saints, Nina, that’s amazing,”

“My reply, or the fact that my reply is true?”

“Both, sister, both,” Inej choked out between another laugh. 

“What did you do afterwards?” Jesper asked, shaking.

“I got really close to their faces and cupped them, then asked ‘ _ would you like to take his place, my pretties? I certainly like blonds _ ’, then winked and walked away.” she said casually.

“My pretties,” Jesper laughed. “Wow. We’re going Wizard of Oz,”

That just made Inej and Jesper laugh even more. 

Inej started fanning her face, because she couldn’t breath. She kept making little hitching noises. Nina started to giggle.

“Why are you laughing?” Jesper asked.

“Because you’re laughing!” Nina responded.

That brought on a whole ‘nother bought of laughter. Inej had tears running down her cheeks. The Suli girl stood up shakily, still not breathing much, and took Nina’s face in her own. “How do you like this, my sweet?” she whisper/choked/laughed out.

“It’s magnificent, as you are, my beautiful enchantress!”

Jesper raised his hands. “Let me try!” he turned to Wylan. “Can you do magic, because I think you just cast a love spell on me!” he winked.

Nina laughed even more. “You’ve really bewitched me!”

“I’d like a ‘potion’ of your love!” Jesper continued, wriggling his eyebrows at Inej, who looked like she couldn’t take it anymore.

Nina stood and twirled Inej around, then dipped her. “You’ve spelled me into  **sub** mission!”

Inej’s whole face was flushed from laughing so hard. “Get a taste of religion! Lick this witch!” she moved her shoulders up and down, smirking. 

“Witches do it in a circle!” Nina laughed.

“Really? I hear they go around in threesomes!” Jesper responded.

“I was a bit naughty at school,” Nina winked at Matthias “and got ex-spelled!”

“I’m magic in the bedroom!” 

Nina was laughing so hard she dropped Inej on the floor. “Oh my Gods, I’m sorry, Inej!”

Inej didn’t seem to mind. She was laughing, she was crying., she wasn’t breathing, and she wasn’t making any sound, but her whole body was shaking. Nina collapsed next to her, screaming, “Witches go down together!”

Jesper laughed, doubling over. “We’re all so stupid,”

“I think we’re wonderful. Especially at the witching hour. We really  **get it on** then!” Nina told him.

“Witches be bitches!”

“Put your wand in my mouth! I’d like to taste your magic!”

Matthias had his head in his hands. “Please, stop,” he groaned. 

Kaz was starting to look a bit worried about Inej. “Inej, breath,” he told her.

She shook her head, mouthing ‘I can’t’.

Wylan was blushing, and glancing at the camera every once in awhile, like he was worried someone was spying on them.

Inej rolled away from Nina, hit the leg of a chair, and started to laugh again. Nina gasped for air, and tried to help the girl up. 

Inej fanned her face even more, taking bit breaths or air, then giggling them up. “Oh Saints, oh Saints,”

“I’m pretty sure your Saints wouldn’t approve of this conversation,” Nina told her, face flushed. 

Inej waved it off. “They probably like having something to laugh about,”

Jesper shook his head, grinning, then looked at Matthias, Kaz, and Wylan. “Are you guys alright?”

“No,” answered Matthias and Wylan. Kaz would never admit he wasn’t fine, alright, okay, but that couldn’t stop his poker face from slipping into an expression that was slightly disturbed.

Inej and Nina sat back down in their chairs, still giggling. When Inej tried to take a bite of her chili, she ended up spilling it all over her sweater due to her shaking, which made Nina laugh more. 

Inej cursed and tried to dab it out with her napkin, wetting in in Kaz’s water, who hardly seemed to mind. She scrubbed at it, sobering up, but to no avail.

Inej lifted it over her shoulders, taking the dark grey sweater off with some difficulty, since it was a bit big on her. Kaz had to help her pull it over her head.

She wore a simple long-sleeve black shirt under it. Inej tied her sweater around her waist. The sun was out, so she didn’t seem to mind the chill in the air so badly. She took in some more deep breaths, as did Nina. 

The two glanced at each other, and began to giggle again.

“Oh no,” Matthias’ head thumped on the table. “Nina, dear, I love you, and I love your laugh, but  _ please stop _ ,”

Nina covered her mouth with her hands. “I’m trying, I swear,”

Inej looked up at her. “Witches don’t try! They do!”

“Each other!” Jesper added. Of course, he knew Inej and Nina were completely platonic, practically sisters, but it was still funny.

Kaz, Wylan, and Matthias all groaned as the two girls started to laugh again. Jesper hoped the security cameras were at a good angle. He was going to have to ask Kaz to get the footage.

 

* * *

 

“So,” Jesper said conversationally, “How about Untouchable?”

Kaz turned to him. The next class was only the two of them, and they were heading there together. Business. “What?”

“You and Inej. Untouchable. You know, because you guys-”

“No.”

“Partners In Crime?”

“No.”

“The Assassin and The Brawler?”

“No.”

“Spy and Thief?”

“No.”

“How about: He stole my heart. She took my secretes?”

“No.”

Jesper sighed. “How about: I Love Him/Her, But I’m Too Freaking Scared And Uncertain And In Denial To Tell Him/Her How Wonderful, Lovable, Amazing, Beautiful, And Goddamn Perfect He/She Is?”

Kaz glared at Jesper. “Jesper, I swear, one more word out of you about this and I’m shove my cane down your throat and make a smoothie out of your vitals.”

Jesper shut his mouth.

 

* * *

 

“Everyone, it seems we’ve had a bit of an issue,” the dance teacher announced to her students. “It seems that our outfits have been damaged,”

The dancers started to mutter among themselves, some looking upset, and others relieved, like Inej. “How?”

The instructor sighed, and reached into the box. The outfits, which were beautiful two pieces that were mostly transparent and full of sequins, were covered in black ink. Jesper had no doubt Inej would have looked amazing, and felt very uncomfortable, in one of them. 

The dancers gasped. The instructor continued. “This morning, they were still fine when I checked to see if everything was in order. Sometime today, they got ruined. The security cameras caught nothing, but it is quite obvious someone did this,”

The dance teacher didn’t seem to suspect anyone, not even Inej, who had a reputation for not being seen and not liking revealing clothes. She was strict, Jesper knew, and liked everything to be in order, but she wasn’t actually an unpleasant person. 

“We’ve decided that we aren’t going to cancel the dance, but we’ll just buy another set of costumes, since these are beyond washing. They won’t be as expensive as these, or be anything near the same, but it’ll be something.”

The dancers nodded, and the instructor had them start their stretches. Jesper guessed that Kaz had put ink all over the costumes to ruin them.

That means Kaz had to break into the girl’s locker room, where the costumes were kept. 

Jesper tried hard not to chuckle. He wondered if Kaz had felt awkward.

Maybe he had imagined what Inej would look like in the costumes? Or the fact that Inej changed in that room into said costume?

Jesper wished Kaz was the sort of person he could tease. His threat from earlier was still fresh in his mind. 

Jesper turned to look at Wylan, who he knew had memorized all the lyrics to the song. The music club also worked as the choir of the school, so Wylan sung often, but usually it was classics he was already familiar with, or some pop song that was on the radio a whole lot. 

Wylan seemed to be doing fine. The music club was still warming up their instruments, so they hadn’t started to sing yet. 

Jesper took out his phone and texted Kaz:  _ Are you going to show up to dance/music club and watch Inej and Wylan? _

In truth, Jesper knew Kaz would only be watching Inej, but what did it matter?

His reply came back a couple minutes later, which was to be expected. Kaz never answered right away, since he was rarely on his phone. It usually took 5 to 15 minutes for him to reply. Sometimes he didn’t even answer at all.  **No, I’m busy.**

Short and to the point. Typical Kaz.

“Alright, everyone, that’s enough stretching!” the instructor called out. “Start practicing your parts individually. If you have any questions or would like to see the video of the dance, come ask me!”

The dancers nodded and spread throughout the gym. They still seemed a bit unsure as they dance, proof that they had only started the new dance a few days ago. Jesper watched Inej as she twirled and jumped, folded over herself, slid, stopped, turned, and even did a couple of gymnastic moves. It was a contemporary dance, after all, not ballet or some other type. Inej could do ballet, but she only came to the contemporary dance days. The dance club had contemporary on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, ballet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and met up at another building on Saturday and Sundays for break dancing. 

Inej was, without a doubt, one of the best, maybe the actual best, of the dancers. When they had gone to her past performances, she was almost always right in the middle, right in the center. Everything she did was impressive and with feeling, so she wasn’t just dancing exceptionally well, but also expressing herself. 

Then, finally, the choir started to sing. Like the dancers, they had just started practicing, so note every pitch was perfect, and occasionally people stumbled over their lines. But Wylan, how was smiling slightly as he sang, seemed fine. His voice was angelic, and although Jesper couldn’t pick it out from the dozen of others voices that were singing, he could see Wylan’s mouth moving, could imagine the boy’s voice in his head.

There was something serene and calm about the moment. Dancers practicing, choir singing, and it somehow made Jesper fill with ease. He liked things that were fast paced, but he could still remember his mother’s soothing voice lulling him to sleep, the way her hands calmed him. Such moments reminded him of her, and he welcomed them. It gave him peace, even if it wasn’t for a long amount of time.

 

* * *

 

When they got back to the house, Kaz was the only person there. He was typing away on the computer, clicking different things here and there.

He didn’t greet them when he came in. Instead, he looked up and said, “I’ve got a small job for us tomorrow, right after school,”

Wylan seemed like he wanted to protest, but didn’t. He had practice every day, like Matthias usually did, but he always knew there could be a moment when Kaz might need them to do something. 

“I’ll explain all the specifics over dinner,” Kaz continued. “How did everything go?” he asked Inej.

Inej smiled at him. “They’ll be ordering some knew stuff. At the end of pracice, the instructor showed us what she has in mind. It’s still a little more skin than I’d like, but it’s much better now. Thanks, Kaz,”

Kaz nodded mutely. 

Wylan and Jesper shared a glance, then Jesper leaned into Inej’s ear. “Usually, couples give each other thank you kisses. Try that, why don’t you?” he whispered.

Inej, without even looking at his face, grabbed his hand, twisted it, then jabbed her other hand into his stomach. With a twist of her own body, Jesper went airborne for a moment, confused, then hit the beanbags at the corner of the room hard. 

He groaned, disoriented. “C’mon, Inej,”

Inej shook her head, huffing. “Jesper, just  **_no_ ** .”

The doorbell rang, and Wylan moved to open the door. Nina for some reason refused to use her key, and if people didn’t answer the door quickly enough, she rang them into high Heaven. Or low Hell, considering who they were. 

Nina flounced in, smiling in victory. Matthias trailed behind her, and didn’t even reach the couch. He slumped onto the floor, and let out long, pained groaned. “I hate everything,”

Kaz looked at him, then at Nina. “What did you do to  _ him _ ?”

Before Nina could answer, Matthias spoke, although muffled. “Torture. She tortured me,”  
He lifted his head up weakly. “The jokes from lunch? She continued them. Throughout the whole day. In class, in the hallways, and she started shouting them out during practice.”

His head slumped back down. “I’m done. I’m so done. I’m leaving you all,”

Inej patted his shoulder sympathetically. “Shh, Matthias, shh,”

Nina jumped happily onto the couch without a care.

Matthias groaned again. “Ugggghhhhh. I. Hate. All. Of. You.”

Jesper grinned. He loved this group. 


	4. Cute Kaz and Deadly Kaz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaz is either:
> 
> A crazy, scary motherfudger who breaks people's bones and threatens the hell out of them,
> 
> -Or-
> 
> A boy who's totally in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really this is something I just threw together. Please comment and tell me what you think!
> 
> NOT EDITED 
> 
> (Ain't nobody got time for that!)

**Kaz**

 

Kaz was waiting for the moment he’d be free of his last class. It had been almost a whole week since the last time they had something illegal to do, and as Inej put it, he was dying of boredom. He had explain the plan last night, and now they only needed a few more minutes for all of it to be over, so they could finally  _ start _ .

Inej poked his side, and her turned to her. They were in an English Literature class, and she was looking about ready to drop and start snoring. Honestly, he could relate.

“What?” he whispered.

“You look like you’re burning in Hell,” she whispered back.

“When I die, I will be,” Kaz replied.

She frowned at him. It was easy to rile her, and there was just something so satisfying about the furrow between her black brows. “ _ Kaz _ ,”

“ _ Inej _ ,” he copied. 

She huffed. “Fine, you’re bored, but try to at least seem a bit more interested? The poor professor is looking at you like you’ve broken her heart,”

Kaz rolled his eyes. “I’ve never payed much attention before. What’s the difference now?”

“That before, you at least looked like you were trying?” she said.

“Uhuh,”

Inej huffed again and turned away from him, looking towards the front. Kaz let his eyes rest on her, trailing from her face, the bronze skin, the full lips, the oily lashes and the glimpse of her deep brown eyes. His own eyes traveled down the curve of her neck, down her torso, the black shirt covering most her skin snuggly. Her hands, pretty and round, rested on her chest, her fingers fiddling with her pencil. Down to her waist, to her hips, her thighs, her calves. Despite her being short, she did have good legs, strong from dancing and climbing the sides of people’s houses. His eyes trailed back up not paying attention to her hair, black as night, shiny even in her ruthlessly tight braid. It was long, even when braided, and always straight, which Nina claimed was a miracle considering she rarely had it in anything other than a braid. Kaz fought the urge to reach out and run his fingers over the plaits. Not that he’d really be able to feel them, considering his gloves.

Kaz sighed internally. He wished he could touch, reach out, hold her hand, keep her close, like all the others could. 

_ Damn you, PTSD. I know you’re laughing right now. _

 

* * *

 

Kaz sighed in relief when they finally walked out of the lecture room. “Finally,”

Inej looked at him. “I don’t even know why you bother coming here if you hate it so much,”

“It helps with jobs, get me more jobs, and one day I’ll be able to use these degrees in a con,” Kaz replied.

“Or maybe, one day you could use the degrees to get a good honest life and possibly even start a business?” she offered.

Kaz looked at her. She shrugged. “Hey, just saying, always keep the possibilities open,”

Kaz snorted. “That’s not a possibility. It’s a fucking miracle.”

“Language, Kaz,”

“I’m part of the Dreggs. We don’t bother with politeness,”

“How are you supposed to woo a girl then? Cursing until her ears bleed?”

“Did you just say ‘ _ woo _ ’?”

“ _ Not the point, Kaz, _ ”

“Well, it certainly wasn’t a  _ sharp  _ use of your words,”

She looked at him funny. “Really?”

“Really.”

They opened the doors outside. Snow was falling in a light dusting. Inej shivered. “I didn’t think it was this chilly.” Her breath turned to small puffs of steam, circling around her lips before flying off and disappearing.

Kaz kind of wished that the University was made of wood so he could light it on fire. Two birds with one stone: Getting rid of the damn place, and warming Inej up.

He settled for giving her his coat. “Here,” He started unbuttoning his dark coat. He had a sweater under it, so he figured he’d be fine. Plus, the cold was something he was used to.

“You don’t nee-”

He pulled the coat over Inej, her petite form enveloped in the black fabric.

Inej looked up at him, her eyes big with surprise. They were close, and Kaz could feel her breath hitting his clothed chest. 

Kaz pushed a piece of stray hair behind her ear, thankful for his gloves, yet cursing them at the same time.

“Better?” he asked.

Inej swallowed, steam coming from her lips, and after a second, she smiled up at him. His heart beated faster whenever he saw that smile. “Yeah. Thanks, Kaz,”

Kaz stepped away from her. “You’re welcome,”

Inej put her arms through the sleeves, which were too long for her, and pulled the coat around her tighter. She looked a bit like a child in it.

_ Cuddly _ .

Kaz stepped on the word. 

“This is really warm,” Inej commented, snuggling into the coat.

Kaz raised an eyebrow as they started walking again. “Isn’t it supposed to be?”

“Not by itself,” Inej said. “You have to be warm for it to get warm too,”

“Are you telling me I’m very  _ warm _ ?” Kaz asked.

Inej shrugged, looking away. ‘I’m just saying, you must have been creating a lot of body heat . . .”

What a weird topic. “Okay, I create body heat. Most people do that,”

Inej pouted at him, which was almost as cute as her smile.

_ Cute. Ugh. Why, words, why. _

“Nevermind,” she said. They continued walking, Kaz watching Inej from the corner of his eye. She didn’t seem to notice, instead turning up the collar of the long coat. Her hands were hidden by the sleeves by some inches.

“Hey! Hurry up!” Kaz saw Nina waving her hands up and down by the black car the six used. Jesper and Wylan were inside of it, and Matthias was leaning on the car.

Inej waved one sleeve back at her. “Sorry! Professor Chase just kept going after the class was over,”

They reached the car, and Nina noted Inej’s apparel, and Kaz’s lack of one. “Well don’t you look cozy,”

Inej tried to look indifferent. “I was cold,”

“I’m surprised Kaz didn’t just burn down the University to make a fire,”

“The thought  _ did _ cross my mind. But the wooden buildings, like the mobiles, are on the other side of campus, and brick doesn’t burn well, so . . .” Kaz said.

Nina looked at him. “Should it bother me that you thought about that long enough to come to that conclusion?”

“Not really. Any normal person would have come to it,”

“But no normal person would consider that in the first place,”

Kaz shrugged. He didn’t really care.

Nina sighed. “Get in, so we can get this show on the road,”

“I like that phrase,” Inej said.

 

* * *

 

“Is this the place?” Jesper asked, looking at the house.

“Yes.” Kaz said, getting out of the car. “Matthias, Wylan, Jesper, stay in the car. Nina, go be a seductress.”

Nina grinned. “Will do, commander,” she stepped forward and sauntered down the road, heading to the mansion. 

Kaz wasn’t going to admit he like the title.

They watched as Nina sweet talked the guards and made a complete spectacle of herself, fluttering eyelashes, giving glimpses of cleavage, and in general a whole display that while impressively effective, it didn’t interest Kaz past the technicalities. Eventually, they let her pass the gates into the Marrow mansion. Kaz had sent a message to Marrow, in which ‘Nina had ‘offered’ her ‘services’, but left it at that to see the reply, which had been rather eager.

It was a minor job. They had to get Nina inside so she could seduce Hendal Marrow, a Kerch business man that his wife suspected was sleeping around. Kaz’s crew was willing to do anything except trafficking and getting rid of children because their parent was unhappy with them, because Wylan and Inej had both firmly put their foot down. Actually, whenever they got a job offer like that, the two teamed up to get the abandoned kids good foster homes and to rescue the humans being trafficked. But blackmail, to murder, to stealing, and even holding people hostage? That was good by them. 

“Inej, go,”

Inej handed Kaz his coat back, and stepped out of the car. Two steps out of the car, and she was gone from sight. The nights alway came quick in Ketterdam, especially in Winter, so it was already dark, and Kaz couldn’t even attempt to guess where Inej had disappeared to. She was going to climb to the building and take pictures of the first few happenings with Nina and Hendal to get enough evidence in the case Mrs. Elena Marrow wanted to do against her husband, since she wanted to file for divorce and get some good money out of it. 

Nina would at some point would knock Hendal out with one of Wylan’s chemicals for a few minutes, and snoop in his room to find more evidence.

Later, Kaz would have to sneak in and scare the Hell out of Hendal into agreeing to give over a generous amount of money, which they would record and edit as more evidence. Elena wanted a strong case against her husband, after all. Wylan had to stay with them to 1. Make sure the chemical went right and 2. In case they needed more, he would have the chemical stored safely, because in truth none of them knew much of chemistry (and demolition) except chemicals = poisons = kill and gunpowder + fire = boom. 

Matthias and Jesper were along just in case Hendal got some funny idea to call in extra guards or in case the guards got suspicious. And also, Matthias wouldn’t let Nina go anywhere along if he could help it.

 

* * *

 

When Kaz finally got to sneak into the house and threaten/record Hendal, it was a relief. He’d always thought that Inej had no scent, but after putting his coat back on, he’d caught the faintest smell of jasmine. It was driving him insane, and he wanted something else to focus on.

( **OKAY usually I don’t interrupt my story in the middle, but go to Google and search up ‘jasmine smells like’, and look at some of the stuff it shows (especially under People Also Ask ‘what is the scent of jasmine’, and the first bit of the first link to show up on the whole page, which should be The Smell of Jasmine, The Calm of the Crowd). Seriously, it’s perfect for Inej.** )

Kaz watched the man, who was short and pale and kind of . . . soggy? . . as he snored on his bad, still sleeping. Even after Nina left. Inej, Kaz knew, was still at the window, somehow hidden and as light came out into the night from the room.

Kaz sighed, and lightly smacked the man with his cane to try and bring him to the waking world. “Up,”

The man groaned, blinking repeatedly. “What . . . ?”

Kaz raised his eyes to Heaven, then thought about instead frowning down at Hell. “Get up,” he growled. 

The man suddenly sat up, his eyes wide with panic. “The girl, the rag, what- He looked at Kaz, stumbling back onto the bed. “Wh- When did you get in here!?”

Hendal opened his mouth to shout. Kaz moved forward and slapped his hand over his mouth, looking him dead in the eye. “Shout,” he hissed. “And you’ll be dead before the guards are up the stairs, and I’ll be on my good way,”

Marrow’s eyes widened. Sweat started to form on his forehead. 

Kaz mimed shooting Hendal in the head with his hand, which was a bit difficult since he was holding his cane in it, but passed of the message well enough. “Understand?”

Hendal nodded. Kaz slowly took his gloved hand away from Hendal’s face, and stepped back.

He decided to go with something that would take the man off guard. “I understand you’ve been having prostitutes come to the house while your wife is taking care of her mother?”

Hendal spluttered. “What?” he hissed quietly, but his head jerked backward, his eyes dilated. “No such thing has been happening.”

“Then,” Kaz asked. “What happened when that pretty brown haired girl came in?”

“What brown haired girl? There wasn’t any girl. I’ve been alone all evening,” Hendal protested, but his direct eye contact with Kaz proved otherwise. His instinct was fight instead of flight, Kaz could tell. And he was still lying.

“Now, now, Hendal, let’s not lie to each other,” Kaz said.

“How do you know my name?”

Kaz almost rolled his eyes. The man was a business person. Of course Kaz knew him. He knew about everyone with money in Ketterdam. Plus, he was in the man’s house. It would make sense to be familiar with their name when you’re familiar with the house.

“I have my ways,” Kaz said at last. He could feel Inej rolling her eyes. “And do you know my name, Mister Marrow?”

Hendal’s eyes flickered nervously from feature to feature, his panicked mind not making connections. Not everyone knew how Kaz Brekker looked. But everyone in Ketterdam had heard of Dirtyhands one way or another, and that’s who he was tonight. 

“Let me give you a few hints,” Kaz stretched his gloved hand over Hendal’s eyes, who seemed to begin to understand. Then, Kaz lifted his cane so that Hendal could have a good luck at the crow head on top of it.

Hendal’s eyes widened with terror. Kaz smiled. “You get it yet?” 

“You,” Hendal pointed at Kaz. “You’re the gang leader of that crow obsessed group. The Dreggs,”

“Mmhmm,” Kaz waited.

“Your name . . . Kaz Brekker. They call you Dirtyhands.” Hendal gulped, and scrambled back some more. “Look, I don’t know why you’re here-”

“Oh, your lovely wife hired me,” Kaz said. 

“Wh- what?” 

“She knows you’re cheating on her,” Kaz started to walk the floor calmly, making small noises with his cane as it clicked along the floor. “She paid me to prove into it,”

“Elena?! No!” Hendal exclaimed.

Kaz shot him a withering glare. “What did I say about noise?”

Hendal whitened. Kaz came closer. “Do you have any idea,” Kaz started “of how easy it would be to break your skull with my cane, my feet, my fists right now? How easy it would be to put a bullet through your heart?” Kaz leaned in. “I could end your life in a moment. I could leave you lame for the rest of your life. Mind what I say,”

Hendal swallowed thickly, nodding mutely. 

“Good,” Kaz said, leaning back. What a weak-minded man. “Now, your wife was waiting for the sold information that you have actually been sleeping with random women, most of them young and beautiful and looking for a little of money. Now that there’s evidence, which we are currently sending to your wife and her lawyer, she’ll be filing for divorce,”

Hendal didn’t say anything, but Kaz could read his expression well enough. Disbelief, anger, fear. 

Kaz continued. “And she wants not to only server ties with you, but also wants to get a little bit out of it. She’s stuck around with you for 20 years, and this is how you repay her?”

The men in Kerch liked to think that they owed the world nothing, that they could do what they wanted. They liked thinking that the woman were meek little things.

But that was untrue. Although not all the women were brutal, Kerch was Kerch, and Ketterdam, Ketterdam. The women here didn’t go down without a fight. Especially when it came to money. They were vicious, with fangs and claws and curses.

Hendal looked like he was swallowing a Billiard ball. Kaz didn’t mind it, and clicked the recorder on. “Now, she’s angry. But she’s willing to let this all go . . . for some money,” 

Hendal licked his lips nervously. “H- How much?”

Smart. He knew not to argue with Dirtyhands.

“500,000  _ kruge _ ”

Hendal’s eyes widened, furios. It really wasn’t much. Half a million only. “What?”

“She wants 500,000 to make up for 20 years of her life wasted. You should be glad she’s not asking for more than that, although she did say I could raise it depending on how difficult you are,” Kaz said. 

Hendal shook his head. “That’s half a million  _ kruge _ -”

“It’s not all that much. You’re a businessman. You should know this,”

“But over a divorce, it’s-”

“Your wife,” Kaz interrupted. “Or rather, soon to be ex-wife, has spent half her life with you. She has helped you run Marrow Shipments. She’s taken interviews you didn’t want to deal with. She has done bills and paperwork for years instead of making you do it. She hosts parties for you. She gave you children, legacies, heirs. She gave you money, her own money. She dealt with a trashy relationship. She took care of house affairs, and has helped you in many a court case. And then, you betray her. I think that not only as your wife, but also your business partner and the person that keeps this,” Kaz made a gesture  towards the whole room, the whole house. “Afloat. I think she could demand a bit more. How about 750,000?”

Maybe the man wasn’t all that smart, because he shook his head. “Ridiculous. That woman doesn't deserve a penny of my money,”

Kaz sneered. “Oh really? Are you saying that she  _ wasn’t  _ the one who brought you out of bankruptcy 4 years back?”

Before Hendal could answer, Kaz kept going. “Are you saying she  _ isn’t  _ the one who personally tutored your two genious children into successful people?”

“Are you saying she  _ didn’t  _ save you 6 months ago when you forgot to attend Councilman Hoede’s party and she went instead, claiming you were sick?”

“Are you saying she  _ didn’t  _ give your family a large amount of money when you two married?”

“Are you saying that she  _ never  _ took it upon herself to raise your social image?”

“Are you saying she  _ wasn’t  _ the one who has practically ran Marrow Shipments for the past year even as she took care of her sickly mother?”

Hendal couldn’t speak. Kaz laughed mockingly. “You can’t claim she didn’t do those things, not for one second. Try. Just try.”

Hendal shook his head. “Speak,” Kaz said. “Admit it aloud,”

“I- She did all those things,”

Kaz lifted Hendal’s head with the end of his cane. “Does he deserve the money?” Kaz pressed his cane down on the man’s jugular. He swallowed.\

It seemed like the words were wrenched, pulled tortured from the man’s lips as he silently admitted. “She deserves it,”

“Good. 1 million.” Kaz was mostly raising the amount because the more Elena got, the bigger their share was going to be. 

“But-”

“ _ But nothing _ . You agreed, but only after I pointed everything out. Don’t waste my time.”

The man frowned. “I-”

Kaz pushed a little harder. “You what? You’ll pay the amount?”

Hendal took the hint. “I’ll pay.”

“How much?” 

He winced. “1 million. 1 million  _ kruge _ .”

“You promise?”

“Yes. Under Ghezen’s eye, I promise to give my wife a million  _ kruge _ for our divorce,”

Kaz switched the recorder off. “Good,”

He brought down his cane hard on the man’s right hand, which Kaz knew from Elena was his dominant. It shattered. The man screamed in pain, but Kaz covered his mouth once again. “No screaming, remember?” He brought his cane down on the man’s other hand, hearing the bones crack.

The man whimpered, tears running down his face. ‘ _ Why? _ ’, he seemed to ask.

“A parting gift from your wife, and from me,” Kaz said as he walked to the window. “Good luck trying to sign bills and ring for servants without her now,”

 

* * *

 

“Well,” Kaz said, back in the car as they sped (Jesper was driving) back to the house. “That went well,”

Inej nodded, curled up in between him and Nina sleepily. It wasn’t all that late, but the car was warm, and seemed to be lulling her to sleep. “He got what was coming for him,”

“Will  _ we _ ?” Nina asked. 

“Probably not,” said Matthias. “Demjin here has gotten away with plenty of things, and nobody is condemning him to where he belongs.”

“In Hell with his father?” asked Nina, then yelped as Wylan, who had been fast asleep only moments before, woke up as his head hit the window when Jesper went down a curve and woke up moaning. 

“Jesper!” he complained.

“Sorry, honey!”

Wylan grumbled and tried to curl back up. He kind of looked like a child at nap time. 

“Father?” asked Inej as she burrowed herself farther into Kaz’s side. Thank goodness for lots of Winter layers, or he’d be throwing up out the window.

“Lucifer,” Nina explained. “Satan,”

“The barrel birthed me,” Kaz said, watching Inej, her eyes closed, her legs drawn up to the chest.

“Whatever you say, sweetie,” Nina joked. Kaz rolled his eyes.

“Kaz?” Inej asked quietly. 

“Yeah?”

“What do you think about females?”

Kaz frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Like, your general opinion of them.”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t often underestimate them. Or anybody, but you know what I mean,”

Kaz thought about it for a moment. “Most women, especially now days, are most certainly not to be messed with.”

Nina snorted. “That’s right, world! Even Kaz Brekker admits that we girls are badass!”

“Shhhmmmm” said both Wylan and Inej. “Not so loud.”

From the front seat, where Matthias was listening to everything, Matthias told them all to quiet down some. “Wylan is trying to sleep. And Inej is getting there. Don’t be so loud,”

“Yes, mom,” Nina told him. Inej puffed out a soft giggle, which made Kaz want to lean down and kiss her. 

Matthias crossed his arm and looked t them from the front mirror. “Damn right I’m your mom. Now, either you are going to whisper, or shut up.”

Kaz sighed, but obliged. “It’s not just because plenty of women have tried to kill me before though,”

Inej, Nina, and Jesper in the mirror all raised their eyebrows some. “Oh really now,”

Kaz shrugged. “Plus, I spend time with both Inej and Nina.”

“And you don’t mess with them,” Jesper said as he ran a red light.

Kaz nodded. “But also, all the girls here in Kerch, especially Ketterdam, have a whole lot of backbone. Very few are all meek and flowers and sunshine.”

“I’m not sunshine,” Inej mumbled sleepily, rearranging herself so her head was in Kaz’s lap. Kaz tensed for a moment. There was only one layer in between their skin.  _ Breath. Breath. You’re nowhere near the water. She’s warm. She’s not dead. No. Don’t look at her eyes, her closed eyes. Not dead, Sleepy. Warm. Not cold. Not dead. Not wet. Not rotting. _

_ Jasmine _ .

Somehow, it was the thought of her scent being Jasmine that calmed him down. He took in a deep breath, then noticed how Inej had gone still, tensed, as if waiting for him to shove her away. When he didn’t, she slowly relaxed again, cracking an eye open to look at him, then snuggling back down.

“No you’re not,dear,” Nina said. “You are not sunshine. You’re the angel of darkness.”

Inej puffed again, then finally seemed to drift off.

 

* * *

 

They all came into the house rather sleepy. The drive was surprisingly long, even with Jesper’s near-fatal driving, and it had taken them awhile to get there.

They were also considerably hungry, and no one was going to sleep before have eaten something. 

Nina lurched towards the kitchen, finding the milk, sugar, and chocolate slabs. It was the only thing she could do properly. 

Wylan collapsed on one side of the couch while Jesper and Matthias searched the fridge and cupboards for food.

What they found: cookies, a few brownies, some leftover pan bread, and a pack of frozen fries they threw into the oven (Weird? Yes. Good? Definitely).

Kaz and Inej went to their usual side of the couch. Kaz took off his coat and set his cane to the side, trying not to yawn.

Nina’s eyes kept drooping as she stood over the boiling milk, and as Matthias passed her, he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

So couply. 

So domestic.

So practically married.

Kaz frowned at his thoughts. He really was spending too much time Nina and Jesper. 

Jesper warmed up the pastries and set them on the coffee table because nobody felt like eating in the cold kitchen. Nina grabbed everyone’s mugs and poured in the hot chocolate, still remembering to add caramel to Matthias’s, M&M’s to Jesper’s, marshmallows to Wylan’s, whipped cream to Inej’s, whipped cream with caramel and chocolate sprinkles for herself, and whipped cream with chocolate syrup for Kaz.

They all sat huddled on the couch and the love seat (Jesper and Wylan on one end of the couch, Kaz and Inej on the other end, and Nina with Matthias on the loveseat). 

Kaz and Jesper lightly shook their respective people awake gently. 

Wylan nodded sleepily and reached for his mug, while Inej made simply ‘grabby’ motions. Kaz chuckled a little and passed her her mug and a cookie. She sat up a little, tilting slightly, and bit into the cookie, getting crumbs all over her cheeks. 

Nina was trying to feed Matthias a fry, who was trying to look annoyed, but ended up smiling and opening his mouth anyway. She giggled and kissed him on the cheek, resting her head on his shoulder.

Wylan was practically sitting on Jesper’s lap, reaching for fries and pastries indiscriminately. In another world, Kaz would have probably been ‘awwing’ at the scene. Wylan looked especially puppy-like and silky, and Jesper was holding him close, smiling dumbly and kissing Wylan’s hair. 

6 dangerous outcasts. Sure.

Inej tugged on Kaz’s sleeve. He leaned down. “What?”

“Sorry about the car . . . I didn't meant to bother you, by, you know, laying my head on your . . . um,”

She seemed to flush a little.

Thank everything Kaz wasn’t a blusher. “Nothing bothered me,”

Inej looked at Kaz, managing to look unimpressed with whipped cream on her nose. Kaz wanted to take it off. “ _ Kaz _ ,”

“I was fine, Inej. Just surprised . . .”

She didn’t believe him. He could see it. But she didn’t push the issue. “You have some crumbs on your face,”

Kaz’s lips quirked. “You have whipped cream on yours,”

Inej’s eyes widened a little. “I do? Oops. Where?”

Kaz looked up briefly to their friends, who were all paying attention to each other. 

_ Fuck it _ .

He leaned forward, and used his lips to brush it off her nose. He pulled back quickly. It had been the barest touch. Kaz sighed internally. No weird freak out. Good.

He liqued the whip cream off his lips, watching as Inej turned darker and darker, her mouth hanging open. 

He raised his eyebrows at her, and reached out for another brownie.

 

* * *

 

Kaz woke up in the middle of the night, feeling exceptionally warm. He looked down, and saw the faintest outline of Inej’s body curled over his lap. 

Kaz couldn’t even remember falling asleep. After Jesper and Wylan had, but before Matthias and Nina? And when did Inej get into his lap?

He found the usual nausea wasn’t bothering him, despite the fact that she was on his lap. Kaz squinted, and noticed that she was wearing his coat, giving them a warm layer in between them. She must have put it on before falling asleep.

Kaz looked around the room. Nobody seemed to have blankets over them, and the air was cold.

Kaz sighed, and tried to move a little. Immediately, Inej’s breathing changed. Damn her being a light sleeper. “Kaz?”

He cursed silently. “Sorry. It’s just . . .”

“Did I do something?” she looked sorry. “I was hoping maybe you wouldn’t mind if I had the coat on, but if it-”

Kaz shushed her. “No.” she looked confused. Kaz sighed. “No, it’s not that. It’s just that the others don’t have blankets, and I . . .”

Inej smiled in understanding. “Oh,” she slid off his lap, allowing him to stand up.

Kaz turned away from her to the closet, and grabbed a few blankets. He spread the light blue one over Wylan and Jesper, making sure it covered Jesper’s long legs.

_ I’m not their father figure. _

He took the red one and set if over Nina and Matthias. He was tempted to not cover up Matthias well, but went against it. Such a large guy being sick sounded like a bad idea.

_ I’m not their father figure. _

The final one, black, he lifted in question to Inej. She smiled widely, her eyes still sleepy, and patted the space besides her. Kaz sat down tentatively, lifting the blanket like a dark wave over them.

Inej curled back up next to him.

_ I’m not her boyfriend or partner or anything. _

Next morning, Kaz woke to his gloved hand intertwined with Inej’s.

_ Shit what if I am? _

 


	5. Dance Dance Revolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wylan joins the dance club, Inei finds out she’s a saint in a certain sinner’s eyes, and our two smol beans are babied. Also, there are a ton of references.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited. Several references. Please comment! Sorry if it feels short, tried my best.

**Wylan**

 

_ What am I doing here? _

Wylan didn’t understand what was happening. He knew he was standing in front of the tall dance instructor, wringing his fingers and looking down nervously, but he didn’t exactly know how he had gotten there. . 

“So? What do you say?” asked Miss Lucy. She preferred being addressed as Lucy, her first name, instead of Heap, her last name. It made her seem younger. She was tall with long light brown hair and brown eyes, and she scared Wylan to hell. Not as much as Kaz, but still, the woman seemed like she could ring Wylan’s neck. 

“I, um, guess that . . .”

“What? Speak up,” she leaned forward a bit, and her braided hair fell forward. “Will you join, or not?”

Wylan’s whole brain seemed to stutter. He’d never been any good at any sort of confrontation, and now this woman was trying to get him to join dance club by staring into his very soul. “I- Well- Um- Uh- ”

“Spit it out, I don’t have forever, Van Eck,”  
Wylan winced. He hated his last name, and with reason. It came from his father, after all. “I have music, and that’s every day so . . .”

“I’ve already talked to Austin about it. He says it’s fine if you come to dance on Mondays and Fridays, optional on Wednesday. He says he already knows you practice a lot at home.”

Austin Lake, was the student leader of the music club. His father was the actual instructor, but he paid little attention to the actual students and preferred to talk about himself. 

“Oh . . . ?” What was Wylan supposed to say now? “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you want me to join?”

“Oh,” Miss Lucy cocked her head at him. “Well, we’re short on boys, and you’d be great. You have good posture, are light, and Inej, you know her, says that she has seen you dance,”

_ Ohhh _ . . . It’s true, that sometime on weekends Nina puts on the radio and pulls in Wylan, Inej, and Jesper to dance (Kaz and Matthias are ‘above such activities’, but apparently they aren’t above watching Inej and Nina like they haven’t eaten in weeks). They had all said Wylan was a good dancer. He’d been proud of it before. Now, he wasn’t so sure. 

_ What am I doing here? _

His mouth started moving, his vocal cords vibrating, his tongue and lips shaping the sounds to words he didn’t mean to say. “I suppose I could join . . . “

Miss Lucy clapped her hands together. “Finally! You start officially tomorrow. Just watch for today,”

Wylan nodded mutely, and headed to the wall here Jesper was sitting criss cross, watching him from across the room. Wylan sat next to him, hugging his knees to his chest and burying his face into them. “Uggggghhhhhhh, I’m such an  _ idiot _ .”

“No, you ain’t,” said Jesper, bumping Wylan on the shoulder with his own. “You’re just a little bit silly, is all,”

Wylan shook his head. “ _I just_ _agreed to be part of the dance club,_ ”

Wylan lifted his head to peek at Jesper, looking at his reaction. He looked slightly surprised and impressed, as if he totally hadn’t been in it with Inej when they ‘casually’ mentioned him to Ms. Lucy. 

“Don’t act innocent, Jesper,”

“Why not? I’m the most innocent fellow you’re  _ ever _ gonna meet,” Jesper said jokingly. 

Wylan rolled his eyes, and trained his eyes on Inej as she leaped into the air, twirling like a top in midair. “She’s amazing,”

Jesper also looked at the Suli girl as the landed on the floor, lifted her head back, and flipped daintily. “That she is,”

“What am I even going to do?” Wylan frowned. “I can’t do what she can,”

Jesper shook his head. “You’re cuter when you’re confident.”

“Jesper!” Wylan whisper-yelled, feeling heat rise to his face. “No.”

“Yes.” Jesper reached out to twirl one of his fingers in Wylan’s curls. “You’re a great dancer, Wylan. We’ve all seen you and Inej in the living room, dancing like there’s no tomorrow.”

“That’s different,”

“How so?”

“It just is,” Wylan tried not to pay attention to the way Jesper raised his eyebrows at him. The Zemini always seemed to be coming up with new expressions, all of which had some sort of underlying message to them, even when his words did not.

“Hmm,” Jesper didn’t seemed impressed. “I think you could do it. Act like you’re playing your flute or something. Or dancing to some Disney.”

“Jesper. I am not dancing Disney for this.”

“Why not? You and Inej have all those dances memorized. And you came up with your own dances for Lion King and such,” 

Wylan huffed. “Stop it. I’ll just make a fool of myself and go back to permanent music club.”

“Now, don’t do that,” Jesper smirked at Wylan. “I want to see you in some of the outfits those male dancers like to use. They really hug the body.”

“Jesper!”

_ What am I doing here? _

 

* * *

 

“Okay . . . okay . . . keep that pose for a bit so I can adjust you,” Inej circled Wylan, lowering his arms by the fractions of an inch, making him raise his leg only a few centimeters, tilting his head this way and that. Wylan stayed otherwise immobile, letting Inej mold him into the perfect dancer.

Inej smiled at Wylan. “Okay. Good. Hold that for a few more seconds, then raise your leg in the spin and drop it into the curled position,”

Wylan did as she said, thinking it was rather odd, how Inej taught him to dance. She refused to use all the professional terms for dance, saying that they didn’t matter as much as the actual moves and poses. She also insisted that contemporary dance was simply what you made it, not old boring rules. And Wylan didn’t complain. She shouted less than Miss Lucy, and was soft, patient. Not terrifying.

“Good,” Inej commented. “Try it again. Lower your head a bit more at the end, and try not to rock while being curled. Stay as still as possible.”

Wylan nodded. “Alright,”

He got up to try the steps again, and gave a brief glance around the room. The other male dancers practiced near the exit (a sign, perhaps?), and the females were spread out across the room, in groups according to their parts. Miss Lucy had assigned Inej to teach him the part that she and some of the other students, a mix of both male and female, were learning. Wylan and Inej had practiced endlessly the past week, trying to teach him the dance over anything more practical. They would go back to the basics after Wylan learned the dance, which was first and foremost in the whole operation. 

He lifted his leg, brought it down hard and lifted the other one as her turned back violently. Most of the dance mas graceful, but the current part was all bold and hard movements. Wylan couldn’t decide which part he favored. Both were complex, but there was something about the grace of the bigger part of the dance that reminded him of his mother. And yet there was a certain attraction to the bold, unforgiving dance moves he was just learning. They reminded him of The Dregs, of Inej, and Kaz, and Jesper, and Nina, and Matthias. They reminded him of his new life. 

And so he danced both parts with equal passion, not willing to let go of both the things that made him, him. 

He lifted and turned his leg, remembering the adjustments Inej had made, then with the light push of the foot still grounded on the cold floor, he rose, twisted forcibly and fell, then folded into himself like a child in a closet who was scared of what was outside. He made sure not to move, diggin his head into his knees.

He heard Inej clap. “That was wonderful, Wylan!”

Wylan unfolded himself, allowing himself a small smile. “Thanks, Inej,”

Inej grinned and helped Wylan up. “You are catching up incredibly fast. Soon you’ll be able to join the rest of our group for practice. Honestly, you’re a natural.”

“So are you,” Wylan grabbed his water bottle. “You’re like some sort of powerful force on the stage,”

Inej blinked. “I get that a lot. But I’m still not quite sure what it means. To be a force, yet not in the way Kaz is, or my parents were, or how Nina is.”

“You mean, like, being scary, or kind, or accepting?” Wylan tilted his head at Inej.

She nodded, lifting her leg casually as she stretched it at a seemingly impossible angle. “Yeah, like that,”

“Well . . .” Wylan wasn’t sure how he could describe Inej’s force to Inej. It was breathtaking, watching her dance. She wasn’t just going through the motions, doing the dance, She  _ was _ the dance, the music, the feeling of awe in the air as she moved. The second she stepped on the stage, people could feel it, feel her passion and her love and her joy and kindness and  **her** . It was like she was a force of nature.

Wylan tried to remember the words the rest of the crew had used to describe Inej, to see if they would be any help. “Well, um, Jesper describes your dancing as some sort of black and white show of power,”

“What?”

“I mean, he says it’s like you're changing constantly while you dance, shadows and light, like you represent both realms in the way that you are graceful and dangerous, even on stage. Especially on stage.”

“Still don’t get it,” Inej admitted.

Wylan tried again. “Nina describes it as gifting. Like you’re giving the audience a gift with every step, some sort of light to hold onto. She always looks so happy after you perform, insisting it’s like a blessing to watch you dance.”

“I am not divine.” Inej said. Wylan had to smile, because he knew exactly what Kaz though when he watched Inej dance. He would save it for last though. 

“Matthias says you’re like a story,” Wylan continued.

Inej snorted. “Right. I’m a story book.”

Wylan laughed. “I doubt that’s what he was thinking when he said that. He says it’s like you’re showing your past in your dance. Your joy and your rage, your innocence and your wildness. Like you’re speaking to the whole world about yourself.” 

Inej considered that. “Everyone seems to think a whole lot about my dancing. And you?”

“I don’t know,” Wylan said, thinking. “It actually makes me really believe in all of us. That we’re not just heading off to Hell. That we are real. It’s very empowering to watch you dance, Inej,”

Inej was silent, but only for a moment. “And Kaz?”

Wylan smiled. “When I asked, he offered me just a small amount of words, but I think it covers everything pretty well.”

“What did he say?”

“‘She is a saint. Sankta Inej,’” Wylan said. 

Inej smiled. Sure, it sounded the least poetic after everyone else’s thoughts, but it showed something rare. How Kaz actually felt about something. “I don’t think he would allow something so holy near him,”

“Please” Wylan smirked, knowing he sounded like Nina and Jesper, yet not being able to help himself. “Like he could resist. He is incapable of denying you,”

Inej blushed and made him practice again.

 

* * *

 

 

“Well, color me  _ un _ surprised,” Kaz said as Wylan finished showing the group what he had learned of the dance so far. “You did it exactly how Inej showed you,”

Wylan beamed. He couldn’t help himself. 

Nina ruffled Wylan’s hair. “And now we have two professional dancers, do we not?”

Jesper went over to Wylan, wrapping his arm around him. “This one is all mine. I’m not sharing,”

“C’mon, Jesper,” Nina nudged the sharpshooter. “He’s adorable. Share some of him with us.”

“Nope,” Jesper pulled Wylan to the black couch, settling him in his lap. Wylan blushed. Kaz rolled his eyes. 

“Anyway,” Inej said from where she was sitting on top of a bookshelf. “Why am I not hearing anything about my amazing teaching skills? Why have I not been showered with compliments and chocolate?”

Nina laughed. “I’ll buy you something sweet later,”

“And you?” Inej looked at Wylan. “My own pupil neglects his payment? What has the world come to?”

Wylan smiled at Inej. “What do you wish, dear teacher?”

“I wish for . . .” Inej peered up at the ceiling. “I wish for . . .”

“The ability to make a wish, perhaps?” Matthias suggested. 

Nina threw the Fjerdian a look. “Matthias.”

“Sorry.”

“I wish for more food!” Inej said. “Yes. More food. Suli food. You are to find Suli recipes and make me a feast!”

She raised her arms in some sort of odd victory pose, then tumbled off the bookshelf and landing softly on the floor. “Go, my apprentice, and being me food.”

Wylan and the others laughed. “Yes ma’am.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey everyone,” Inej waved to a group at the corner of the dance hall. They all greeted her back cheerfully.

“This,” Inej gestured at Wylan. “Is Wylan Van Eck,” she looked at him apologetically for using his last name. “And he will be joining us in our part.”

One of the girls in the group, with short straight black hair and bright blue eyes, looked at Wylan and smiled. “I’m Kat,” her eyes glanced over Wylan, focusing on his eyes and hair, his hands, his stance. He felt like she was committing his very being to memory.

Wylan blinked. “Um, nice to meet you, Kat,”

“That’s Hale,” Inej nodded at a honey-brown haired boy who lazily played with Kat’s hair. Kat swatted his hand away, but hardly seemed to mind. “Over there is Hearth,” she pointed at a tall, pale guy with blond hair and all dark clothing. “He’s deaf, but he dances to the vibrations on the floor. And next to him is Alex.” a girl with green swirls in her hair looked up, as if waiting for someone to attack her so she could spill some blood. “Um, considering what she’s wearing, she’s female today. Alex is genderfluid.”

Wylan tried to keep all of them in place, but they all looked so different that he doubted he would forget who was who. “Um, it’s a pleasure to be here. Anyone else?”  
Inej looked around. “It seems that Baz, Penelope, and Simon aren’t here. They are probably late. Like usual. Anyway, that’s this group. We usually have all the same parts together, so we all know each other.”

Wylan wanted to know how such a diverse group of people ended up together, but decided not to question it.

Miss Lucy blew the whistle from across the dance hall. “Start practicing already, and stop your dilly dallying! I want to put it all together for the first rehearsal today!”

She was the only person that Wylan had ever hear the term ‘dilly dallying’ from before. It was honestly a bit ridiculous.

They all took their places and began to dance. Wylan tried not to feel nervous, but it felt like everyone in the group was suddenly watching him. He focused on not letting his attention be averted by their gazes on him, and moved how he had been doing before, letting the dance come to him. They had finally gotten past the Curled part, and Inej had already taught him the last few minutes of the dance, which she has labeled as ‘unfurled’ ‘kick-y flips’, and ‘melt’. All were surprisingly accurate. Inej would be great in stand-up comedy. 

Once it was over, they all stood up from the last part in Melt. Inej went over some things with Kat about what they should try to adjust, but overall, everything seemed pretty good. Wylan caught Miss Lucy looking at them from the other end of the hall appreciatively. She grinned at Wylan, then turned to a young, yellow-curled boy who seemed more interested in watching the other boys, who shared his straw hair and green eye dance then what she was scolding him for. 

Wylan felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see Jesper, smiling all crazy and happy like usual. “Good job, merchling,”

Wylan rolled his eyes at the old nickname,. It had been a bit of an insult when Jesper had first started to use it, but now it was a term of affection. Odd how those things work.

“Hey Jes,” Wylan said. “What do you think?”

“You were all in sync, somehow, but I feel like you were all going too fast. Might be good to slow down a bit.”

Wylan nodded. “Okay. And what do you think of the group?”

“Nothing compared to ours,” Jesper grinned. “But they’re alright,”

Wylan smiled, pleased. “They are all very interested. The girl with the blue eyes reminds me of Kaz,”

“Do you think she’s a thief?” Jesper asked. It didn’t even matter, really, since thieves crawled all over Ketterdam. But not many went around going to dance lessons.

“Probably,” Wylan said. “Everyone seems very diverse. I wonder what they do in their free time.”  
“It’s Ketterdam.” Jesper pointed out. “Probably something illegal.”

“That is so true,”

Inej called for them to get back into place, shooing Jesper away good naturally. “Okay, that was a good first go with Wylan coming into the group. What do you guys think?”

“Um,” Wylan said. “Maybe we could go a bit slower? To go with the music once it goes on?”

Inej nodded, her dark eyes glittering. “Okay, let’s try that,”

She seemed to be happy that Wylan was speaking.

Wylan was pretty happy he was speaking too.

 

* * *

 

“Hallelujah,” Wylan said on Friday as he and Inej stepped inside the house. “Halle-freaking-lujah,”

Inej made a sound of agreement as she unwrapped a scarf from around her neck. Wylan was pretty sure that was Kaz’s scarf, but he had decided not to comment on it. 

Nina and Kaz looked up from the kitchen counter, where they were both eating ice cream and staring at the ceiling as if their lives had no meaning. A.K.A: They were bored.

Nina sprung up from her chair, her life once again having some sort of purpose. “Thank everything out there for you guys. Matthias and Jesper went shopping and Kaz is no fun,”

Kaz grumbled. “Shut up, Zenik. Watching a bunch of weird girl dramas is not my idea of fun.”

“And watching a computer screen for hours writing some report due in two weeks is not  _ my  _ idea of fun, Brekker,”

Inej and Wylan looked at each other, and proceeded to collapse on the couch. “Well,” Inej said into the kitchen. “How about you make your idea of fun giving something to eat to these two poor unfortunates who just came through your door?” 

“I can live with that,” Nina said, already moving towards the cabinets. “What do you want?”

Wylan had to admit that the first thought that came into his head was  _ Jesper _ , but the Zemini wasn’t currently available. “Food,”

Nina snorted, but started looking for snacks to feed the two dancers anyway. “Kaz, go do something for them,”

Wylan heard Kaz sigh and get up. “You two should get out of the coats,” he said. 

Inej seemed to bury herself in the couch even more. “Too lazy,”

Wylan whined in agreement. 

Kaz lifted Wylan by the hood of Wylan’s coat. “Come on, you two. It’s a pain when someone gets sick,”

That translated into: I don’t want you two getting a cold, so please take your freezing jackets off and grab some blankets. 

Wylan sighed at sat up, but Inej was not so easily convinced. “I don’t wanna,”

Kaz sighed and lifted Inej from where she had curled herself into an impossibly small ball. “Inej . . .” 

“Nooooo,”

“Inej,”

“Nooooo,”

Kaz set the tired Suli girl on top of the back of the couch. “Inej, you’ll get sick.”

“I don’t caaarrreeeeeee,”

Wylan and Nina watched, amused, as Nina set down a platter of cookies and Wylan hanged his coat by the doorway. Those two were just so . . . so . . . so  _ yes _ , whatever that meant.

Wylan watched as Kaz, gloves securely in place, took the zipper of Inej’s puffy black jacket and pulled it down. Inej made a sound of annoyance, but Wylan didn’t miss the lightest quirk of her mouth. “Kaaaazzzzzz no it was warm,”

“Inej, the fabric is freezing. And wet.” 

“So?”

Kaz raised his eyes upward, then pulled the coat off Inej. Inej reached for it lazily. “Give it back,”

“No. Here’s a blanket. Take that instead.” Kaz dropped a black blanket above her, and Inej somehow made herself a burrito in seconds as she rolled down back into the cushions of the couch. Kaz rolled his eyes and hanged her coat. 

Nina and Wylan looked at each other, mouthing  _ adorable _ . Wylan reached for the tray of cookies. He grabbed a few, and snuggled in a light blue blanket. Inej asked for Nina to hand her some. Nina put one in Inej’s mouth, and the Suli girl nibbled away, not willing to break from her cocoon. Kaz grabbed a few cookies for himself and sat next to Inej. The two of them had been getting increasingly closer the last few weeks, as if they were suddenly realizing that they liked each other after years of denial. Wylan was glad, because watching them watch each other was at times excruciatingly painful.

“So,” Nina started as she sat on the loveseat. “What got you two so worn out?”

“Miss Lucy,” they both groaned at the same time. 

“I thought you said she was nice?” Nina seemed confused.

“She is,” Wylan said. “But she is also very determined. Since we did the first rehearsal, she’s been having us work so hard and we can barely even move anymore. She told us to rest up during the weekend because she was coming back full force next week. That woman is insane.”

“Mmhmm,” Inej said. “Tired. Very. More cookie,” 

Kaz fed her another cookie and wiped the crumbs off her blanket. “So what are you guys planning to do during the weekend? Just lay around?”

“Yes.”

The door opened again, and through it came Jesper and Matthias, both holding several bags of groceries. It was honestly a bit of a silly sight, because Matthias was in some weird Fjerdian sweater and grumpy-looking as usually but carrying groceries in his arms like some sort of grandma. Jesper seemed fine with his load, although Wylan had no doubt that his lime green pants and cranberry jacket caught attention on the streets. 

“Oh, hey, you two,” Jesper said, dumping all the groceries on the kitchen table as Matthias closed the door and took off his boots. “How are you guys?”

“Tired,” Wylan said, holding his arm out to his boyfriend. Jesper took it after taking off his jacket, scooping Wylan into his arms and kissing his forehead. Wylan smiled and snuggled into Jesper’s warmth. Wylan closed his eyes, choosing to simply follow the conversation around him by sound. 

“Matthias, take of your coat and come over here,” Nina ordered the Fjerdian, who Wylan imagined nodding as he hanged his coat and sat next to his girlfriend. “Wylan and Inej are super tired, so I guess we won’t be doing much this weekend,”

“I’m tired too,” Matthias pointed out. “Football practice was deadly today. Anyway, Coach Hedge said the football game is Sunday. You think you guys can make it? Do we have anything planned?”

Kaz hummed. “No, I don’t think we have anything to do Sunday. I have to go meet with someone tomorrow for some extra ammo shipments, but we’re pretty cleared. I already blackmailed the person I had scheduled today.”

Inej spoke up. “We’ll come, Matthias. Just don’t expect us to start screaming like a bunch of maniacs.”

Matthias snorted. “You and Wylan and Kaz never shout like crazy people. That’s Nina and Jesper’s job.”

“Good point,”

Jesper laughed, and the sound vibrated through Wylan. “You love our cheers, Matty,”

“I really don’t.” Matthias said, but there was a smile in his voice. 

“More cookie,” Inej and Wylan mumble at the same time. The group laughs, and Jesper and Kaz fed their respective blanket bundle. 

Wylan felt Jesper kiss his red curls again. Wylan hummed agreeably. “Thanks, Jesper,”

“No problem,”

Wylan must admit: He loved the bundle life. 


	6. Movies and Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a lot of bickering in this. Kaz/Inej try flirting. Wylan explains foot ball to Inej. Nina is wise in the ways of getting free food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited. Next chapter will be Nina's P.O.V, so yeah.

**Inej**

 

Movie time with the six of them was always chaos.

They fought about everything: What move they were watching, what snacks they would eat, who got to sit where, if they could sing along when there were songs, who got which pillows, whether they should skip certain parts, and how much everyone hated each other. The argument was surprisingly common when they were watching movies.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Nina waggled her finger at Jesper like a scolding mother. “I am not going to watch The Princess Bride without Milk Duds!”

Jesper rolled his eyes and rolled the cart towards Nina. The whole group was at the supermarket, buying snacks for movie night. Sort of. It was a bit earlier than usually, because Matthias’ game later. “Find them yourself then,”

Nina rolled her eyes back at him, and almost got smacked by the cart. “You’re just annoyed that Kaz wouldn’t let you buy the beer,”

“We never get drunk!”

Inej watched them, alternating between being slightly annoyed and slightly amused. Besides her, Wylan scratched his cheek, sighing. “Shouldn’t we avoid drinking? I mean, considering that we need to keep all our sense heightened and stuff?”

Jesper ruffled Wylan’s hair. “You have never been drunk, have you?”

“No,”

“Well, all the more reason to get it!” Jesper said.

Inej and Nina locked eyes, then turned to their sharpshooter. “Jesper, no.”

Jesper pouted dramatically. “You guys are no fun. Go and get your Milk Duds, Nina,”

Inej turned to look for Kaz, who had disappear with Matthias a bit earlier.

She found them a couple of aisles down, bickering as they usually did. “What’s up with you two?”

Kaz looked up at her, but Matthias spoke first. “Kaz won’t let me buy another set of blankets,”

Inej looked at him, puzzled. “Why would we need another set of blankets?’

Kaz broke in before Matthias could answer “He says it’s getting too cold for the blankets we have,”

“We have plenty of good quality blankets," Inej pointed out.

“But we need more,” Matthias said. Inej thought she noticed the slightest nervous tremor in his voice. She wondered what was making him nervous. Certainly not her or Kaz. Matthias was wary of them, but not nervous.

“Matthias,” she ventured. “What did you do with the blankets?”

Kaz looked at her. “They were there a few nights ago. I don’t think they’re gone—”

“Um,”

Kaz and Inej’s gazes snapped back to Matthias. “What did you do?”

“So,” Matthias started. “Three nights ago, I was walking around town. And there were a bunch of dogs at the corner with the wood work shop and the office place, and they were shivering and hungry and,” he looked at Inej as if asking for her to sympathize. “They looked miserable. So I went back to the house and . . .”

"You gave,” Kaz looked up at the ceiling, sighing. “Our blankets to the dogs?”

“Yes.”

Kaz raised his hands towards the place where Inej suspected her Saints were either smiling down on Matthias or frowning at Kaz. “Whatever. What. Ever. Buy some blankets, Helvar. Your money, not ours.”

He turned away, most likely to find Kit Kats. They all loved them.

Inej looked at Matthias. “Just buy them,”

Matthias sighed. “Yeah, yeah, Wraith,”

 

* * *

 

Honestly, there wasn’t anything quite like seeing Jesper and Nina argue. It was a sort of art, if Inej was honest. Maybe something done by Picasso, but still art.

Nina waved her hands at Jesper. “Why? I don’t get it! You didn’t have to do this!”

Jesper crossed his gangly arms across his chest. “I don’t see what the problem is! I made the popcorn, did I not?”

“Jesper, this isn't making popcorn! This is exploiting it!” Nina exclaimed.

“What do you even mean by that? It’s popcorn!”

Inej stared at their kitchen, which was cluttered with bowls of popcorn. Each one had something unique about it. One was plain, another buttered, another salted, another was covered in caramel, one in chocolate syrup, one in melted M’n’Ms, one in melted gummy bears, one that had a bunch of that Magic Chocolate Shell stuff on it, and one which had been attacked with food coloring to look like a tye dye shirt.

Nina looked up at the ceiling. “Jesper, you took all our popcorn, and made these monstrosities!”

Matthias grabbed a handful of the M’n’M popcorn, and tried it. “Actually, it’s pretty go—”

“Matthias!” Nina swatted at his hand. “Don’t do that!”

Inej looked at Kaz, who was looking conflicted about whether to scold Jesper, or try the chocolate syrup-covered popcorn. Eventually, the popcorn won out. Inej laughed quietly, trying not to attract the other’s attention, and lightly passed her thumb on the corner of Kaz’s lips, where a smudge of chocolate syrup remained. Kaz tensed visibly, but Inej still brushed off the syrup, and smiled at him, trying not to betray the fact that an apology was trying to break free from her.

Kaz blinked several times when Inej pressed her thumb to her lips, lightly taking the chocolate from her thumb. Inej suddenly felt the urge to smirk, but decided that would be a bit too much for the already flustered-seeming Kaz.

Inej turned from Kaz and sat next to Wylan, staring appreciatively at the tye dye popcorn.

“I almost don’t want to eat it. It’s so perfect,” Wylan said sadly.

Hearing this, Nina turned around. “Wylan! Don’t eat it! He has ruined popcorn!”

“I don’t know,” Inej drawled. “Seems like he upgraded it,”

Inej motioned for Matthias to pass the M’n’M popcorn. “Wow. This is good.”

“ARGH!” Nina yelled. “INEJ, DON’T TAKE HIS SIDE!”

Jesper laughed victoriously. “HA! Guess I won! Stick it, Nina!”

  
“That isn’t very polite!” Nina said.

“Who ever said we were polite!?”

“TREAT ME LIKE A LADY, JESPER FAHEY, OR YOU’RE GONNA GET IT!”

“YOU AIN’T A LADY!”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY, FARM BOY?”

“YOU HEARD ME, YOU VILE WITCH!”

“What did you just call my girlfriend!?” Matthias growled suddenly.

“Nothing to far from what you used to call her!” Jesper said back.

“Well at least I’m not always broke because I’m gambling!” Nina said.

Jesper made a face. “At least I don’t go around offering my ‘services’ for money!”

Inej leaned over to speak into Wylan’s ear. “Are they seriously fighting about who has the worse illegal activities?”

"I think so,” said Wylan, how had a flurry of colors on his lips. Inej laughed and turned to both Jesper and Nina, stepping between them.

Inej held up her hands. “Ladies, you’re both pretty, but neither of you are on Kaz’s illegal level, so there’s no point in saying one of you has done worse that the other,”

Kaz coughed. “Don’t bring me into this. Plus, I don’t gamble like a mad man _or_ sell people my services, what ever those may be, considering that Nina has never actually sold her body,”

Inej ignored him, grabbed both Matthais’ and Wylan’s chins, showing the two cats their boyfriend's smeared lips in chocolate and flavored food coloring and caramel and candy. “Besides, you have boy friends that need to get cleaned up. How ever you do that is up to you.” Inej pushed the two boys towards their respective wild cats.

Nina and Jesper shared a last look of ‘Imma get you later’, then turned to their treats, pulling them away in different directions, leaving Kaz and Inej in the kitchen.

Inej sighed. “Seriously. These people are unbelievable,”

Kaz laughed. “Like you haven’t had stupid arguments with me and Nina,”

Inej waggled her finger at him. “Hey, watch out, or we’re going to start another one,”

Kaz leaned on the counter. “What do we do while we wait for them to . . . finish doing whatever they're doing?”

Inej surveyed their living room, and her eyes landed on the bags that held the candy they had just bought. She walked over to it, opening a bag full of Twix. She grabbed a few, and some Kit Kats and Crunch. She put them on the counter, opened a Kit Kat, and offered it to Kaz. He leaned in and bit into it while it was still in her hand.

Inej blushed, but wasn’t about to be outdone. She took the partially eaten bar and bit into it where Kaz had left off.

Kaz’s eye twitched.

“What?” Inej said, then took a bite out of the still-intact other stick of Kit Kat, and then offered it to him.

“Nothing,” Kaz said, then, with his lips brushing her fingers, took the offered bitten piece.

When the others came back from their ‘fun’, they found Inej and Kaz with both their foreheads on the counter, a pile of candy wrappers around them. For neither one of them were very good at flirting, but when exposed for it too long by their favored people, it can be almost fatal.

 

* * *

 

“Finally,” Inej muttered to Kaz. The group had spent the last half hour fighting over who got to sit where and with what blankets. It was always Inej or Wylan or Kaz that pointed out the fact that everyone would just get their favorite blankets instead of fighting over the others, and take their favorite places, instead of taking each others. It was all very stupid, but it happened every single time nonetheless.

"Agreed,” Kaz muttered. They were huddled together under their black blankets on their usual spot on the couch, the chocolate popcorn bowl above the blankets in between them. The other four people in their group[ were all watching the skin intently, were “The Princess Bride” was playing, one of their favorites. Even Kaz liked it.

Inej settled her head on Kaz’s shoulder, looking at the way Wylan was snuggled against Jesper, and how Matthias was holding Nina tenderly. She was in prime fangirl territory.

Kaz grabbed her hand, and with a jolt, Inej realized that _he wasn’t wearing his gloves_.

Inej couldn’t focus on the movies because her heart was in her throat the entire time.

Until Matthias suddenly jerked up and yelled. “I’m going to be late to the game!”

 

* * *

 

When they finally got to the University for the game, the stadium was packed with people. Jesper had driven them at lightning speed, which would have probably provided fast-as-lightning deaths, but Matthias barely had time to go into the locker room and change before being called out to the field.

Several cheerleaders said hi to him, fluttering their eyelashes and twirling in their black and silver skirts, the colors of Ketterdam, but there wasn’t anything for them to do, since Matthias only had eyes for Nina. Inej heard her mutter something along the lines of ‘ _Ha, dirty bitches got nothing on me_ ’.

So true.

Kaz, who was ahead of her, moved through the crowd quickly, trying to avoid coming too near to someone. Behind Inej and Nina, Jesper and Wylan followed them. Inej hoped they wouldn’t get lost.

Kaz got to a set of stairs at the bleachers, and people parted to give him space. The first few times that the group had come to Matthias’ games, they had been stared at relentlessly. But after a few hours spent with them all staring back, people had begun to simply ignore them, except to give them passage. Kaz went up the stairs and they followed to the last few rows where few people sat. People liked to sit closer to get a better view, but the crew had quickly found out that it was easier to sit up higher where no one would bother them and they could see the whole field. Also, no one sat behind them, so they could keep an eye on everyone below.

Kaz sat down, and Inej sat next to him. Nina, Jesper, and Wylan all followed. “Why are there always so many people? There are more people at the games than actual students that go to the University.”

Inej shrugged. “Ketterdam likes violence, and this is one way to view violence that is legal, not questioned by the police, and available to the public. It is bound to be popular,”

“True enough,” Kaz said, leaning back against the metal fence that ran around the top row of bleachers so people wouldn’t fall off. “Where is he?”

“There,” Nina pointed out Matthias, a black and silver dot topped off with yellow that was stretching with the rest of the team. “He seems excited.”

Inej didn’t know how Nina could tell the emotions of the Matthias Dot, but she took her word for it. If anyone knew how Matthias was feeling, it was Nina.

The University didn’t have an actual mascot. Sometime ago, people had thought that it should be the three fishes that represent Kerch’s government, but nobody thought much of ‘The Ketterdam Fishes’. In the end, the school emblem was a coin stack with two daggers crossing over if. Fairly fitting both Kerch and Ketterdam’s reputations, it had been popular with the masses. But in the end, they wanted something that started with K.

Which ended with ‘The Ketterdam Killers’.

Creative? Not really. Accurate? Yes.

Inej didn’t know who the opposing team was. She didn’t quite care. She understood the basic rules of football, but she rarely followed the game. She had to depend on the scoreboard to know when to look happy and when to look mad.

Everyone else, even Nina, knew the rules of football, but Inej hadn’t bothered asking for help. All that really mattered is that they won, right?

The crowd grew louder down below them, screaming and throwing things.

Inej turned to Nina. “Is it starting?”

Nina nodded. “Yup.”

Inej steeled herself against the approximate 3 hours and a half that she would have to stay out in the cold, teeth chattering away, tortured by the thoughts of Friday night when she was just a nice and warm bundle of goop.

Kaz moved closer to her the slightest bit. He didn’t exactly love coming to the games, but he did run the betting circles at the University, and it made sense for him to show up and watch his predictions come true. “Looking forward to the game, Inej?”

“Yay,” Inej said, holding her hands up in fake enthusiasm. “I hope we win.”

“We usually win,” Kaz pointed out.

“I know. But I still hope we win because they give out free donuts at the market after we win games.” Inej said.

Besides her, Nina nodded. “I love that. They always make a ton and let me take whole batches. I guess that’s what comes for being the Captain’s girlfriend.”

Inej laughed. “Or, you know, just being associated with The Dregs.”

Nina rolled her eyes. “You know, you could get a bunch of  ‘discounts’” Nina made air quotes. “Because of how close you are to Kaz,”

Inej and Kaz looked at each other, then at Nina. “What do you mean?” asked Inej.

“The closer someone is to Kaz, the better known they are for being scary. We all have quite the reputation around here, but you, Inej, are the most paid attention to, except of course Kaz.” Nina pushed her hair behind her ear. “People always tell me ‘Tell the Suli girl she’s always welcomed’, or ‘Miss Ghafa should come by sometime. I have free stuff I could give her’, or ‘Please don’t report me to the Wraith! I’ll do anything you want!’”

Inej blinked. “Really? How have I never noticed?”

Nina shrugged. “Don’t ask me, because I don’t know. Oh, and if you add the fact that you're pretty much Kaz’s girlfriend—”

“ _What?_ ”

“Everyone knows to watch out for you and show you the utmost respect,” Nina finished.

Inej felt her cheeks warm. “When did I become Kaz’s girlfriend? I mean, I don’t know how people get the impression that we’re dating,”

Nina looked up at the sky like she was asking the Saints _why me?_ Inej was tempted to do the same, but her Saints would undoubtedly look down on her for it. “Inej, dear, you do know Kaz hates people, right?”

Kaz looked like he’s about to protest, then decided not to. Nina nods at Inej, like _see?_

“Yeah,” Inej replied. “He hates most things,”

“And yet, you two are always together,” Nina continues. “Kaz is kind to you. You don’t break his fingers when he puts a hand on your shoulder,”

Inej rolled her eyes. “I hang out with you plenty, and you hug me all the time but I don’t see any of your fingers broken.”

“It’s different,” Nina exhales. “Way different. Like, you guys always know if one of you needs help. And you know when to give each other space. And Kaz talks to you, Inej, more than anybody else. People figure these things out, you know?”

Inej was tempted to answer _And how is it that I don’t_?

But that wasn’t entirely true. She knew she met _something_ to Kaz, however good his poker face was. After all, wasn’t she the only one Inej had ever seen him reach to? Wasn’t she the only one Kaz had confided in? Yes, she knew there was something. But that didn’t make it anybody’s business but their own. “Hmph,”

Nina rolled her eyes. They were all very invested in the business of rolling eyes. “It’s true, and there’s nothing you can say about it. Even Kaz can’t say anything to make it seem insignificant. Right, Kaz?”

Kaz didn’t flinch, or advert his eyes from Nina’s own Spring green ones. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Helvar is running,”

Nina turned to the field. “Oh! I didn’t notice!”

Inej, casting Kaz a grateful glance, turned to the field. The Matthias Dot was indeed running, the ball in his hands, past several players from both teams. Another player from the opposing team tackled him, and Matthias barely dodged. Matthias spinned on his heel, surprisingly graceful for such a big guy, and kept running. At one point, several people from the other team had started after him, and Matthias threw wide. Inej could barely see his face, but she suspected he was shouting for someone to catch it. Luckily, another player on their team caught it and began to run.

Inej frowned. “What’s it called when their running?”

“Rushing,” both Kaz and Nina replied together.

Inej tried to remember, but she had no doubt she’s be asking the same question the next game.

The player made it a few more yards before being tackled to the ground. Nina cursed, while Jesper cackled at the growing mountain of bodies over the player. Inej and Wylan simply winced, neither particularly excited to see the football players wriggling like worms over each other.

Someone blew a whistle. The crowd made a disappointed noise, and the players stood back up again. Inej sighed. “I’m not even going to try and understand what I just witnessed.”

“And I’m not going to try to explain it to you.” Nina said absent-mindedly.

Inej leaned back to make eye contact with Wylan. The blue eyed boy laughed. “Because our team got tackled, we finished a play, or a down. We have three more to go before giving it the ball to the other team. They’re trying to get ‘yardage’, so they can get closer to scoring a touchdown.”

“How many points is that again?”

“Six,”

“I thought it was seven?”

“People usually get the extra point by kicking the thing through the uprights,”

“Uprights?”

“The thing that looks like a broken fork,”

“Oh,” Inej scratched her head, and turned back to the field. “Yeah, nope,”

Wylan looked at her sympathetically. Wylan wasn’t particularly into football, but he memorized the rules of most sports in case someone asked, because he couldn’t stand it when people said ‘let’s Google it’, because he can’t read the answers. Or Google it, for that matter. He was very fond of ‘Okay Google’ and settings that read things out. “Don’t worry about it too much, Inej. Just ask if you’re confused. Keep your eye on the scoreboard.”

Inej sighed at passed her eyes over the field again half heartedly, then turned up to the sky to count the stars.

Inej felt something cover her left hand, and turned towards Kaz, who was looking at the field. She looked down to her hand, which was barely visible under the darkness of Kaz’s gloved hands.

She smiled.

 

* * *

 

“Yes! Yes! YES!” Nina jumped up and down like a mad woman besides Inej, screaming all sorts of banshee calls.

Inej turned her eyes, which had previously been trying to see if they could spot constellations, back to the field. The scoreboard was 17-10, Killer’s in the lead. Matthias was running down the length of the field. He dodged tacklers with ease, and ran down the last few yards to the rectangle at the end. A player from the opposing team was hot on his heels. Matthias took a slight detour as someone tackled him from the side, barely scraping past.

“What’s the rectangle thing called?” Inej asked, wincing as Nina yelled and waved her hands, attracting attention from people below them

“The end zone,” Wylan answered. “If he gets there, he’ll score a touchdown,”

Finally, something Inej understood. Touchdown was one of the few sport related words she recognized, because everyone always shouted it when it happened.

Which is exactly what happened when Matthias finally made it into the rectangle of honor. “TOUCHDOWN!!!!”

Nina screamed. Jesper whooped. Wylan clapped. Kaz shrugged. Inej held her head between her hands.

The whole crowd cheered like a bunch of maniacs. Inej groaned, annoyed by the noise.

Death would be a mercy.

Except the fact that Kaz was still holding her hand, and everyone seemed happy. The wasn’t about to die when everyone in her group was smiling.


	7. Thanksgiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving antics, and Nina has a Grisha problem on her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO NOT EDITED.

**Nina**

 

“This _cannot_ be happening!” Nina barreled down the hallway to Inej’s room, the attic. She knocked in the ceiling with the stick they had designed for that exact purpose where the ceiling could be dropped down into stairs.

“Come in!” Inej called.

Nina pulled down the rope on the ceiling, and the stairs descended. She went up them before they had fully lowered, and jumped into Inej’s spacious attic room. The Suli girl was sitting on her bed, her wet hair in two damp braids, wearing purple pajamas. She had a notebook in her lap, and a pencil in the other.

“What’s got you so worked up?” Inej asked, letting the pencil drop.

Nina pulled the stairs up with some weird pulley mechanism Wylan had made for Inej so that he stairs wouldn’t stay open while she was in her room. “I just got a call,”

“From whom?”

NIna grumbled. The last time Nina had seen the girl in question, she had been about to slap her pretty little blond hair off her shoulders. “Driffa,”

Inej stared. “Driffa called you?”

“ _Yes_. And you know what that little prissy bitch did?”

“What?” Inej didn’t even mind the language. They shared an opinion when it came to Driffa. That girl was all venom.

“She told me that her father in going to help fund a black market Grisha hunt. She’s even more stupid than I thought if she’s _calling_ me to say that. With only her number, I’m sure Kaz could lay waste to the entire operation. Anyway, her father wants to capture a bunch of Griha to either kill them or use them,”

Inej frowned worriedly. “Did she threaten you?”

“I’m pretty sure that just hearing her voice is a threat, Inej,” Nina said, pulling on one of her curls. “But yes, she did. Said I would be one of the firsts,”

Inej raised her eyebrows. “Right. She does know we’re the Dregs, right?”

“She says that her father has ‘vaster resources that we could ever imagine.’” Nina made air quotes. “That girl is gonna get what’s coming to her. I swear that the next time I see her I’ll stick an oil rag in her mouth, tape it shut, shackle her feet and hands, put her in a bag and throw her over a bridge,”

“Nina,” Inej said. “We all know that you wouldn’t do that,”

“Well, I don’t know because I sure as Hell want to. At least I could just get rid of her,”

“How about this: Kill her father, and humiliate her horribly,” Inej said. “It would weigh a whole lot less on everyone's minds. She _is_ our age,”

“That doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve it,” Nina replied, words clipped. “Heck, we’ve done worse, and we deserve worse,”

“Yet we haven’t gotten it . . .” Inej said. “Actually, most of the bad stuff that happened to us was before we all met and started the really bad stuff together,”

“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” Nina sat down beside Inej, as she had previously been pacing. “Anyway, I’m not too sure whether or not I should take her seriously. I mean, there are few Grisha here in Ketterdam, and they are my friends. I don’t want anything happening to them.”

Inej reached for Nina’s hand. “Don’t worry, Nina. I’ll look into it tomorrow, alright? It’s break this week anyway, so it’s not like I’ll be in trouble for going out late on a Wednesday.”

Nina hugged Inej. “Thank you so much, Inej! You’re a lifesaver!”

Inej tried to keep her hair from dripping onto Nina’s clothes. “Your welcome. But I don’t want to get your clothes wet, so could you back up? And also, I’m not really considerable for the name ‘lifesaver’.”

Nina obliged. “Oh shush, Inej. You are our saviour if no one else’s. What will you do?”

Inej shrugged. “I might have to pass it by Kaz, but I’ll just go to her house first, spy at the windows, maybe sneak into her father's room or office and see what I can find. After sneaking into the Ice Court, and about 80 percent of the houses here, no security program can stop me,”

“Oooh, does Inej want to be the Queen of Thieves?” Nina laughed.

Inej blinked several times, as if she had been strukt. Nina frowned. “Um, are you okay?”

Iej nodded. “Yeah, fine. It’s just that you really reminded me of someone for a moment . . .”

Nina bit her lip. Nina had never known her parents, not really, so she couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be Inej, having been gone from a family that had known her very being before. Now they probably wouldn’t know ⅔ of the Suli acrobat and Ketterdam spy.

“Sorry,” she said at last. “And what should we do if it happens to be true?”

“Sabotage the operation?” Inej suggested. “Again, we could kill her father. He causes lots of trouble,”

Nina laughed half-heartedly. “This is how all our plans start when Kaz isn’t around to guide us, huh? ‘How about we kill that guy?’”

“It’s not might fault that he keeps the plans to himself,” Inej laughed. “I swear, he’d sooner jump off a bridge before explaining everything to us in one go before an operation has actually started. He always keeps the little tricks to himself.”

“It’s a skill of his,” Nina agreed. “Would it hurt for him to tell us he has a way for us all not to die?”

Inej shrugged. “Probably.”

“Ha,”

Inej looked down at her notebook as if she’d just had a thought, picked up her pencil, and started to write something down. “Hmm. That works,”

“What are you doing?” asked Nina, peering at the paper.

“Writing some stuff for a  . . . um . . . thing.” Inej answered, seemingly scrambling for words.

“What?” Nina asked.

Inej blushed. “I have a . . . writing blog. And I was working on some new poems and stuff,”

“WHAT!?” Nina tackled the Suli girl, gripping the young girl and shaking her shoulders violently. “WHAT!?”

Inej stumbled over words as Nina continued to shake her. “I startesh it a few months ago! Mand uh it goll pretty buhpular . . . it’s just— poems— some songs, a few— short stories and— PLEASHE STOPS SHAKRING ME!”

Nina did, although it was mostly because she couldn’t understand half of what Inej was saying. “From the top,”

Inej sighed, and smoothed down her rumpled pajamas. “I shared some writing with Professor Chase— she’s very nice, totally kills the blond & dumb stereotype— and she said I should try to write some more. I decided ‘why the hell not’, and wrote some poems and posted them on this blog website. It blew up fast, and now I write something and post it almost every day.”

Nina gaped. “That’s so cool! Who knows? What do people say? Can I see what you’ve done? Please? Please? Please?”

“Um,” Inej started. “Wylan knows. He . . . sings the songs for me, and I post them under the lyrics. He’s given credit by the alias ‘Music Chem’. I’m ‘Pen & Sword’. People like it, most of the time. Everyone is pretty nice. Some people have been troublesome, but it’s easy to get rid of them. People give me suggestions and stuff, but mostly talk about what the lyrics mean to them. It’s kind of funny, watching people debate what they think the meaning of something is. And, sure, why not. Here’s one:”

Inej passed Nina the notebook, flipping it to a page that, while cluttered with words that fit into little squares, and pointed one out.

 

_We bond in the darkness,_

_Fell into blankness._

_Confront our demons late at night,_

_Yet we ask for consul with them._

_We lift our hands to the sky,_

_Fly into the blinding white._

_We wish for the shadows to take us home,_

_Yet we know where we belong._

_We are thieves!_

_We are sinners!_

_We  are killers!_

_We are liars!_

_Don’t look for us in a prison, you won’t find us._

_We are everywhere._

_We are_ **_you_ ** _._

 

“I like it,” started Nina. “Is it about us?”

“It’s about everyone in Ketterdam,” Inej corrected. “But I had us in mind when I wrote the first part,”

“What else do you have?” Nina asked.

“Lot’s of things,” INej said, scanning the page for something to show her. “Here’s one about idiots,”

 

_They are gears and levers,_

_Nuts and bolts,_ _  
_ _Machines powered by foolish endeavours._

_A bunch of minor dolts._

 

“Hmm,” Nina said. “Tourists?”

“Bitter pleasure seekers, yes,” Inej said. “I’ll show you one more, and that’s it. I’ve got to post some sone.”

“Okay,” Nina pouted. “Shoot,”

 

_She danced for your spirits,_

_Fought for your ghosts,_

_Scared away the phantoms of your old post,_

_Charged a battle you could not._

_Courageous and brave,_

_She stood four you all._

_For you she drowned,_

_You all let her down._

 

“Damn,” Nina said. “What is this?”

“I wondered how I would feel if you guys decided to throw away your lives and everything that we’ve done by pulling the trigger, so to speak,” Inej tapped her pencil on the pages of the notebook. “After all we’ve done together, we all know the team needs us, me, you, them. If any one of us killed ourselves, I feel like we’d all feel this way.”

Nina nodded. “That’s true . . .”

“ANYway, Nina, out. I need to type some stuff,” Inej stood and pulled Nina from the bed. Nina pouted.

“But—”

“No,”

Inej pulled on the rope from the pulley system, and the stairs fell. “Go and torture Matthias or something,”

Nina laughed. “That, I can do.”

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t that hard. Torturing Matthias, that it.

Nina sat on one of the stools by the kitchen island, surrounded by tubs of ice cream.

Matthias had his head in his hands across from her. “Nina, dear, stop,”

“Nope. A girl’s gotta eat,” Nina replied, her argument for anything food related.

She grabbed the ice cream scoop, and added a cookie dough scoop to the chocolate brownie, mint choco chip, strawberry, vanilla, and coffee ice cream scoops in her bowl.

“And now,” Nina motioned grandly at the toppings surrounding her, “TIME FOR TOPPINGS!”

“Nooooo,” groaned Matthias. “Nina, it’s 10:30. You’ll be going to sleep soon. This is way too much sugar,”

“Shuushhh, mum,”

Nina grabbed chocolate magic shell, chocolate syrup, whip cream, M’n’Ms, and got to creating her masterpiece.

“Behold, world!” Nina lifted the bowl. “Another beauty has been made!”

“Nina—”

“No.”

“But—”

“Matthias?” Nina reached for a spoon and scooped some of the sugary haven into it.

“What?”

“Do you know what is very, very good to have?”

“Life? Sleep?”

“No.”

“Being able to live without diabe—”

Nina shoved the spoon into Matthias’ mouth. “No, you damn tulip. Ice cream. Ice cream is very good. Almost rivals waffles.”

Matthias swallowed the ice cream. “You are like Jesper with his popcorn.”

Nina’s hand flew to her chest. “How _dare_ you compare _me_ with that— that— horrid killer of food!”

“I’m pretty sure some of those ideas were improvements,” Matthias replied. “I like them plenty,”  
“Hmph,” Nina took a bite of her ice cream, and went to sit on the loveseat. “Whatever,”

Matthias rolled his eyes, and went to sit with Nina after putting away the ice cream and toppings. He grabbed a spoon and sat down next to her. “No way I’m risking you dying from too much sugar, so mine sharing,”

“You just want my ice cream,”

“No,” Matthias said, then paused. “Well, maybe a little. But you really shouldn’t be having that much,”

“You aren’t getting any,”

“Please?”

“Never,”

“Niiinnnaaaaa,” Matthias rested his head on Nina’s shoulder.

Nina harrumphed again, biting back her smile. “Stop it,”

“Nina, love,” Matthias kissed her cheek.

“Flirtation will get you nowhere, Helvar,”

“It seems to take you to plenty places. And it’s not flirting,”

“Most of those places happen to be wherever you might be undressing,”

“Nina!”

Nina laughed. “Still a bit prudish, aren’t you?”

Matthias shrugged. “I’m pretty sure that you’ve gotten rid of anything prudish in me. This is simple human decency,”

“I have beguiled you with my Grisha wiles!” Nina laughed, remembering long ago when they had first traveled together, back in fields of snow and ice so long ago.

Matthias laughed as well, kissing her cheek again. “C’mon, little red bird,”  
“Fine, fine,” Nina moved so that Matthias could also have easy reach into the ice cream bowl of glory.

They had come a long way from those dark nights with only each other and the sharp, piercing cold for company. Before, the ice tried to eat them. Now they ate the ice.

 

* * *

 

“Goddamn, girl!” Jesper exclaimed the next morning, surveying Nina’s condition as she finally stepped into the kitchen. Her hair was crazy, her white pajamas crumpled and twisted, but her eyes were bright and active. There was also a tick under the left one. “You looked like you ran through a tornado while riding a unicorn,”

Kaz raised his eyebrows. “While the wording is questionable, I agree with Jesper.”

Nina shrugged, and replied with a simple, “Ice cream plus me equals heart.”

Matthias stumbled in after her. “Ugh. I barely slept,”  
“And you’re blaming it on ice cream? Shame on you, Matty. At least admit what you two were doing last night,” Jesper said, flipping pancakes on a skillet.

“We didn’t do anything ,” grumbled Matthias, kissing Nina’s head, then laying down on the floor. It was an odd habit, but it happened often so they simply stepped around him. “It was just a lot of ice cream. Check the freezer if you need convincing,”

Jesper waved his hand. “Whatever. Anyway, today is Thanksgiving, but since none of us celebrate it, what do you guys want to do? It always snows here early in Ketterdam, so we could get in a Christmas mood anyway. It’s been snowing for weeks.”

“Oh no no no no no!” The basement door flew open, and out of it stepped Wylan and Inej, Inej clutching the notebook from last night, and Wylan with headphones on his head. “We’ve lived together for two years, Jesper! You know I won’t accept skipping out on Thanksgiving!”

Jesper raised his hands into the air. “Hey, hey, calm down Wylan.”

“Inej, sorry, but the production will have to be postponed. I’m going to buy you all  some pumpkin pie, sparkling apple cider, potatoes, and a freaking turkey!” Wylan said, a hand pointing towards the ceiling as if saying ‘bet on it, Saints,’.

“Um,” the whole roomed balked, then seemed to consider the problems of having their pillows blow up when they went to sleep. “Okay,”

Wylan nodded, then seemed to remember the headphones on his head. He threw the light green and blue headphones down into the basement, and shrugged apologetically at Inej. “We’ll finish later, okay?”

She smiled a little. “Sure. Want company?”

“Why not. C’mon, let’s go before Jesper tries to shame Thanksgiving anymore,”

“Agreed. It’s not a Suli holiday, but we have many things to be thankful for,”

Inej left her notebook slide down the stairs of the basement, and her and Wylan grabbed a couple of pancakes, smothered them in butter and cheese, then stepped out of the house. No one mentioned that they were still in pajamas, or that it was fifty degrees outside and they only had their slippers on.

“So,” Nina said.

“So,” Matthias agreed.

“So,” Jesper continued.

They all looked at Kaz, who sighed.

“So,” he added reluctantly.

“Who wants pancakes?” Jesper started.

“Me!” N.

“Me too,” M.

“Yeah,” K.

“We’re all so basic.” Jesper laughed, and started serving. “Unlike the two small little cinnamon rolls that just walked out of here cursing us while eating pancakes and wearing their pajamas.”

“Is anybody else worried about them?” Matthias asked.

Kaz gave a small laugh. “Please. With that look on their faces? Who cares if they're wearing pajamas. I would be scared for the people they meet along the way,”

“True,” Nina said, stuffing her mouth with a medium sized pancake. The boys watched her. “What?”

“You are getting crumbs on your cleavage,” the said at the same time.

Nina snorted, then started to cough violently. She gestured for water, and Jesper quickly passed her his cup. She drank. “Oh Saints,”

Matthias pet her head.

She smacked the hand away playfully. “Seriously? If I didn’t know better, I would call you three lewd for all pointing that out,”

“Nina, dear,” Kaz said the ‘dear’ sarcastically. “No one here except Matthias is interested in what you have. And I doubt that’s what was interesting him at the moment. We are merely pointing out that you have a voracious way of eating,”

“Oh, I know,” Nina said. “It’s a wonderful way to live,”

She still grabbed a napkin and cleaned herself, if only to stop them from making further comments. “Anyway, I’m suspecting that the cleaning of the house and some scented candles would appease Wylan a bit. Let’s get to it?”

She wondered if Inej would be okay going out to spy on Thanksgiving. It hadn’t crossed either of their minds the night before that it might cause a problem.

“After breakfast, Nina,” said Jesper.

“Amen to that,” Nina replied.

 

* * *

 

Wylan was scuttering away in the kitchen, chopping, peeling, boiling, baking, and smashing just about everything that crossed his line of sight. The only people in the kitchen besides him were Matthias and Inej, while Nina, Kaz, and Jesper watched dejectedly as their loved ones ignored them and put their cause, Thanksgiving dinner, first.

“Is anyone else getting intense domestic vibes about this?” Jesper asked, his eyes trailing Wylan’s every movement, a small smile of adoration on his face.

“Yes,” Nina replied, watching as half their crew all turned in different directions to grab something, like a perfectly choreographed dance.

Driffa and her threats hadn’t disappeared from Nina’s mind, as she had pulled Inej aside earlier. Inej had promised that while they waited for the turkey to cook, the two of them would head out for about an hour and see what would happen. Nina was to be on watch across the road from the house to watch for anyone. The house only had cameras with limited vision, because that’s how stupid Driffa’s father, Marnim the Third, was about security.

Inej had already run it over with Kaz, so their were set to have a little spy mission by themselves. Kaz had promised to help Nina do something if there happened to be a problem, for he had no doubt he’d be able to hack into Marnim’s associates accounts and just pluck the money they had received from Marnim.

Of course, all he ever thought about was the money. And getting Inej to smile at him.

Kaz stretched his bad leg, studying the candles around them, the way they all sat passively, the cooks in the kitchen, and shook his head a little. “Everything has changed so much. I mean, consider this, Nina, Jes: Before we all decided to live together, apart from the rest of the Dregs, did you ever celebrate Thanksgiving? No. Before Matthias found out about Christmas, did we ever celebrate it? No. And our first year all knowing each other, even before living here, remember Inej waiting to celebrate New Year’s? None of us were exactly born into this life, but tell me not, you didn’t celebrate these things beforehand.”

Jesper and Nina stared at Kaz. He sounded almost sentimental. “Well,” Nina started, looking around herself. “It’s true. I didn't celebrate anything but Grisha’s graduating at the Little Palace. Even some of Ravka’s holidays just passed over my head. Not that I didn’t like them, but I was too busy training and working . . .”

Jesper nodded. “Back at the farm, my Da didn’t like celebrating anything but my birthday. With my mother, we did celebrate, but after she died, it just wasn’t part of life anymore.”

Kaz nodded, although he didn’t add his own anecdote. Instead, he simply said, “We are probably the most domestic group of people in all of Ketterdam, and we kill and steal for a living,”

“Is that an issue?” asked Nina. She considered the question herself. Was it an issue? It was surely something she’d never had let herself do before. But it was fun. It felt right.

“No,” Kaz said after sometime. “Not really. But it just seems like it would have been an impossibility.”

“Heh,” Jesper chuckled. “Remember, Kaz, when it comes to us, it’s not about impossibility. It’s improbability. And how many times have we beaten the odds?”

“Too many times to count,”

“Yes!” They all turned to see Inej holding a perfectly peeled and round potato over her head, grinning. “It’s perfect!”

Matthias facepalmed. Wylan frowned. “Inej, you wasted a ton of that potato—”

Inej turned to Wylan, raised her foot, and waggled it at him. “It’s perfect. Leave my poh-tah-toh alone,”

Wylan sighed. “Inej, really?”

“If you fight me on this, I will make you practice in high heels like the girls,”

Wylan raised his hands in surrender. “Not again, please,”

“Thought so,” Inej went back to admiring her poh-tah-toh.\

“See my meaning?” Kaz asked, smiling a slight bit.

“Yes, and I love it,” Nina said, enjoying the antics of the two little ones. “This is way better than before,”

“Agreed,” Jesper said.

After a moment, Kaz nodded. “Yeah. It is,”

Nina smiled at the two of them, then sashayed over to Matthias, who was wearing a white apron that said ‘Wolves Are Cute’ with a little wolf under it. She’d given it to him for his birthday. She smiled at him from across the counter, not wanting to invade the kitchen and mess the three up.

“How’s my cook?”

“Wondering whether this recipe really thinks I’m dumb enough to put 5 lemons in the breading,” Matthias replied, staring at the online recipe. “It’s the only part that doesn't make sense, so I’m deeming it stupid.”

Nina made a face. “Smart choice, Helvar,”

“Whatever, Zenik,”

Nina grabbed an apple from a basket, and was suddenly attacked by a flurry of white softness that made her sneeze.  
“Put that apple down!” Wylan said like if he were part of _stadwatch_ or something.

Nina sneezed, blindly dropping the apple and wiping at her face. “What was that?”

“Flour,”

Nina grabbed a napkin and wet it under the sink, wiping the face and chest, which now made her look like a Shu entertainer and some sort of mime rolled into one.

“Wylan, was that really necessary?” she asked as Jesper laughed his head off from the living room.

“Yes,” Wylan said. “But Inej was the one who threw the flour,”

“Inej!”

“What?”

“Seriously?”

“We’re keeping you hungry so that you’ll all eat a ton later,”

"I always eat a ton!”

"You still apply!”

Nina rolled her eyes, walked past Inej, dug her hand into the bad of flour, and dropped it on the shorter girls head.

Inej sputtered, her black hair bleached and her skin looking like caramel with powdered sugar on top. “ _Nina_ ,”

“Whatcha gonna do about it?” Nina taunted, smiling.”

Inaj grabbed two handfuls of flour. “Be glad I don’t have eggs in reach right now,”

Nina began to run away, but Inej still caught her in the face, then her back. “Saints!” Nina screamed, then grabbed the bag. “Back! Back!”

Inej grabbed two large wooden spoons, catching some of the flour Nina threw at her, and launching it back, then scrambled to get a jar of cinnamon.

“You would not,” Nina said, backing away.

Inej laughed, pouring it into the spoon, pulling it back, and Nina started to run back into the living room. Inej jumped onto the counter that separated part of the kitchen from the living room and let the cinnamon fly. It hit Nina in the head, covering her already-brown hair with a rich color of cinnamon.

“Ha! Headshot!” exclaimed Inej, then fell to the floor as Nina showered her in flour. The now all-white Suli girl rolled across the living room floor, leaving smears of flour on it, then jumped onto the coffee table.

Nina smirked, and made Inej’s arm with the spoon freeze up.

“Hey!” Inej said. “That’s cheating,”

Nina snorted, grabbed some red spice from the counter, and threw it at the girl.

“Not the face!” Inej said, worried about the spice getting into her eyes. Luckily, it hit her in the stomach, making her look like a pastry with strawberry filling in the middle.

Nina released the Suli girl, who dashed forward, threw cinnamon at Nina’s face, and looked for another powder to throw. She saw the light yellow garlic powder, smiled triumphantly, and dashed Nina with it.

Nina grabbed the abandoned cinnamon, and Inej darted behind Nina to avoid it. Nina grinned when she saw the Suli girl stop right in front of Kaz unknowingly. Nina threw, Inej ducked, and Kaz had the split second reaction of raising a cushion to cover his face. It hit the cushion hard, speckling the area around him with brown.

They all froze as Kaz slowly lowered the cushion, his jaw ticking. “Ni—”

Nina looked over as Matthias, who had been sympathetically petting Wylan on the head as the younger boy stared at the two girls, put the turkey in the oven. “Oh, look at the time! Inej, let’s shower and go, alright?”

“Yeah,”

 

* * *

 

Nina drove horribly. Not like Jesper’s insane driving that was begging for the Devil to snatch them up from flying off a bridge, but more like an old grandam who liked randomly pressing the gas pedal and didn’t know how to make a turn.

Inej sighed, took the wheel from Nina, who was about to run them into a stop sign, and turned carefully. Inej had never learned to drive a car, but Nina was pretty sure she was better than all of them into one. Jesper drove like a mad man, Nina didn’t even know what she was doing although she had learned, Matthias drove at a snail's pace, following the laws to the letter. Wylan drove well, but got nervous under pressure and made the wrong turns when heading places he didn’t know, because duh, he can’t read the signs. Nina had never actually seen Kaz drive, so who knew about him.

They made it to Marnim’s house safely, with just a few accidents, like almost running over 5 pedestrians, avoiding crashing into 3 stop signs, driving across someone’s yard, and accidentally running a few red lights.

“Okay,” Inej said. She had cleaned up, no longer covered in several different powders, and put on her usual hood for jobs. “I’ll be back in half an hour. Text me if you see something wrong,”

“Okay. No mourners,” Nina said, killing the engine.

“No funerals,” Inej replied. Now days they didn’t say it at every single job they did, since they were past believing that any of the monsters in Ketterdam, all of Kerch, could hurt them. But still, sometimes Nina couldn’t help but miss the days in which it was their oath to each other. Nina watched as the Suli girl got out of the car, and disappeared into the darkness,, heading towards the large house across the road.

 

* * *

 

Nina watched the shadow of a man walk around the front of the door. She was tempted to text Inej, but something told Nina he wasn’t a residence of the house.

The figure turned, meeting Nina’s eyes through the darkness. Nina froze, and the figure approached. How had he seen her? The windows were tinted near black (Kerch had no laws regulating how dark windows in vehicles could be), and there weren’t any lights. It was 8 at night, providing the nocturnal darkness that only Ketterdam was capable of. The figure stepped closer, and Nina tried to make out their features, but they were wearing a hood. Not like Inej’s, which was something like little red riding hood and _Assassin’s Creed_ (which Inej was awesome at) in one. It was simply a black hoodie.

The figure moved to the front of the car, and Nina decided that they weren’t significantly older than herself. She could tell he was well built, and stood strongly, not even the slightest bother as he walked. Probably not yet 30.

The figure tapped on the glass, and Nina tensed. She didn't need a gun or a knife, or even her fists. Her hands were free, and with a flick of her finger, she could make someone's bodily systems collapse.

Nina wasn’t about to turn the car back on, although she was tempted. She didn’t want the headlights to attract any attention, in case there were other people like the one in front of her in the vicinity.

She opened the door, already moving to slow the boy’s heartbeat.

“Hello,” said the boy, pulling his hoodie off to reveal messy black hair. “I thought I felt eyes on me,”

He looked up at her, and Nina blinked several times. He had beautiful sea green eyes, and Nina felt she recognized them.

“I know you,” she said cautiously. “You’re— you’re Professor Chase’s boyfriends, aren’t you?”

He grinned. “One of her students?”

“I have her in the mornings . . .” Nina said. “But I can’t remember your name,”

“Percy Jackson,”

“Oh. And what are you doing, Percy, around here on Thanksgiving?” Nina tried not to react to the name. How had she forgotten about this guy? He was a Tidemaker, a powerful one.

“I could ask you the same, Miss— ?”

“Nina. Nina Zenik,” Nina replied. “And now I’m pretty sure you know what I’m doing,”

“Yup,” Percy replied. “Even I know your name, and I don’t know the names of anything,”

“So, what are you here for?”

“Probably the same thing as you, Heartrender,”

Nina grinned, but there was no humour. “Stay out of it, and all will be okay. I’m guessing you’re here because of Marmin, but we’ll be taking care of it,”

“Your gang?”

“The one and only,”

“Fine by me. I’ve had enough years being a savior. Seriously, I’ve never met a more pure gang than mine.”

“The Half-Bloods?”

Percy grinnned. “The one and only. Anyway, see you Zenik. Feel free to take care of this, but if there is any trouble, me and my friends will be on it,”

He walked away into the night, and Nina had to shake her head violently as mist seemed to envelope him. One second he was there, and the next he’d disappeared.

 

( **As you all know, I don’t usually break up my stories, but whatever. This isn't really a crossover of anything, I just like putting in characters from other books. And also, jurda parem is a thing in this AU, but after it messed tons of people up, it was changed over the years and became something that was injected. The drug combines with the blood, tons of sciency stuff, basically it doesn’t make you crazy, it latches onto your DNA, and makes you stronger. Like a reversed virus, since it doesn't hurt you, and it doesn't really go away either. I felt the need to mention this. Carry On (Simon,).** )

 

Nina stepped into the car, closing the door, and exhaled shakily. Crazy men walking around like it was normal to start up conversations with girls they weren’t acquainted with in cars at night.

 

* * *

 

Ten minutes later when Inej knocked on the window, Nina screamed.

She heaved in gasps of air, and opened the door. “Saints, you scared me!”

Inej raised her eyebrows. “Sorry?

Nina motioned for the girl to sit down. “So what happened?”  
“I feel like I should be asking that to you, but whatever. Anyway, It’s not an idle threat that she was making.” Inej said, waving her phone screen. She had taken pictures of documents she had found, and even some of the decour in the hose. Nina’s stomach flipped. Tapestries made of red, purple, blue, decorated that man’s living room and hallways. The colors of the Grisha.

“That wicked little sorry excuse of a man!” she said. “When I get to him I’m going to turn his teeth inside out!”

“I thought that was a threat saved for Jesper,”

“It doesn’t matter!” Nina said, waving her arms around. “He’s gonna get it!”

Inej nodded. “Yeah. Anyway, Kaz will be interested. He’s still none too kind to the Dime Lions, and several of the higher ups signed up for it. No doubt Kaz will be taking more than Marmin gave them if this all works out.”

“You think he will agree?”

“Yes,” Inej said. “Also, I went through the computer. He’s horribly easy to hack. He’s out tonight, at a party with dear little Driffa. They’ll be back in an hour. We could message the others, and wait. I could kill him—”

“No,” NIna replied.

“No?”  
“Not today. Wylan wants us to help clean up a little so we can eat, remember?” Nina thought about what Kaz had said earlier. “We shouldn’t blow the others off. Plus, they need these wonderful ladies around to make it all work,”

Inej smiled. “Sure. We’ll take care of this guy later. The hunting starts Saturday, so we should strike beforehand, on Friday, tomorrow. It’ll be a quick day of planning.

“Deal.”

They started the perilous drive back home.

 

* * *

 

“Finally,” Wylan said, collapsing into his spot around the counter. They didn’t have a dining table, so they had cleared the counters and kitchen island, lined the island up with the counters, and pulled some chairs from their rooms into place.

Jesper kissed Wylan on the mouth, not minding everyone’s attention. He mumbled something to Wylan, who blushed heavily, but smiled as well.

“Now,” said Inej. “Let’s give thanks, alright? Even you, Kaz, Mr. Non-Believer of the century. Your starting.”

Kaz actually looked awkward as he thought of what to say. He fiddled with his fork, sipped his sparkling apple cider, and finally said. “I’m not thanking some God, or gods, or Saints, or some unbelievable force out there, but you guys instead. Thanks for not dying,”

Inej rolled her eyes, but had to smile anyway. “That works for me.” she paused. ‘Thank you for being my friends,”

Nina, who sat next to Inej, pondered which thing to say, when there were so many things to say thank you for. She finally settled on “Thank you for helping me even when you didn’t need to,”

Matthias squeezed her hand. “Thank you for letting me live?” Nina elbowed him. “Fine. Thank you for trying to make this group better for all of us, each and every one of you, even if wasn’t about morale.”

Jesper went next. “Thank you for accepting all the weird things that happens to us and for not turning away from who the rest of us are,”

Wylan went last. “Thank you for being the best friends to ever exists, even if you aren’t the best people. Thanks for existing. We may be sinners, but we’ve been each other’s saviours.”

They all turned to Kaz. “Close the circle,”

Kaz frowned, but did as told. Except he didn’t say ‘thank you’, but their own little thing.

“Six crows who didn’t die: No mourners,”

“No funerals,” they all answered.

They began to eat under the candle light.


	8. A Little Bit of This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesper and Wylan get interrupted, people are shot, Driffa loses her hair, and Inej and Kaz play games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this being a bit late. Not edited. Please comment!

 

**Jesper**

 

“Jesper Fahey, wherever you are, I’m going to find you!”

The shout resonated through the house, but Jesper ignored Nina’s call, instead continuing to nip at Wylan’s bottom lip. They were inside one of the numerous closets, this one hollowed out for when they need to put in extra supplies. Right now, it was being used for something infinitely different. 

“J—Jes,” Wylan pulled away some, and Jesper lifted him higher, Wylan’s legs wrapped around Jesper’s hips. Jesper leaned down to Wylan’s neck, and the younger boy released a little sigh. “What if Nina needs something?”

“Doesn’t matter right now,”

“Jesper, don’t ignore Nina!” Matthias called out.

Jesper went back to kissing Wylan, hands running through Wylan’s ruddy curls and the younger boy pushed back, all innocent and silent moans, small whispers. Wylan kissed back roughly, and Jesper smiled against the kiss. Wylan gripped Jesper’s bare shoulders, his soft artist fingers rising up slowly, intertwining behind Jesper’s neck. 

The floor flew open. Wylan tensed, but Jesper pulled away slowly, not much caring about Helvar’s surprised and scandalized choking. He turned slowly, still keeping Wylan trapped between the wall and Jesper’s body. “What?”

Matthias turned away. “Why are you shirtless?”

“Same reason you’re shirtless after Nina enters your room,”

Matthias reddened, and turned away, as if deeming himself far too innocent to view such things, and yelled, “Nina! I found him! Far more of him than I would have liked!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nina came towards them, hands on her hips. 

Matthias gestured at Jesper, who sighed, slowly pulling away from Wylan, setting the flushed boy on the floor. Wylan, unlike Jesper, wore a shirt. This had started after Jesper had taken a shower, and he hadn’t bothered with a shirt when he first pulled Wylan into the closet. 

Jesper grinned, spun Wylan so that the both of them were facing Matthias and Nina, and pulled Wylan’s back into his chest, embracing the boy from behind, kissing Wylan’s shoulder and neck again softly. Wylan squeaked, embarrassed. Nina shook her head, amused., but Matthias looked like her was choking on a rock. 

“Well, sorry to interrupt,” Nina began, eyes sparkling, smirking as Wylan attempted to squirm away while Jesper held him closer. “But it would be appreciated if you two would grace us with your presence. For Matthias’s sake, without making out at the table,”

“We weren’t—” started Wylan. He seemed to stop and consider. “We were, weren’t we?”

“Mhmm,” Jesper smiled. He loved the moments he spent with Wylan, whether it was simply holding the boy's hand, or leaning a bit more towards what they had been doing only moments before. 

“Do we have to?” Jesper complained. He’d much rather continue with having Wylan pushed up against a wall. Matthias still had his eyes heavenward, and Jesper suspected that he wouldn’t be fond of the idea. 

“ _ Yes _ ,” Nina’s eyes lost some of the amused sparkling. “It has to do with the Grisha hunting business,”

Jesper sighed and released Wylan, who hurriedly set his shifted sweater to rights, and looked apologetically at Nina. “Fine. Let me get a shirt first,”

“Feel free to not do so,” Nina winked. 

Jesper grinned. “Sorry, gorgeous, but I happen to be the merchlings property.” 

Nina laughed, and Jesper and Wylan stepped out of the closet. Jesper waved them off as he went into his room in the hallway, throwing on a forest green shirt. His room was covered in little spinning toys, posters, CDs, and whirling things that hung from his ceiling, creating odd illusions. Most people might find it hard to relax in a room with several marble machines hanging off the walls, but it made Jesper feel calm, his eyes always having something to stray to, his hands always having a windup toy, rubik’s cube, and other little fidgets to busy himself with. 

Jesper spun around a basic hanging rainbow model of DNA he’d built with Wylan, watching the colors rise and fall in calming waves of up and down motion. 

He strolled out of his room, hands playing with a small metal puzzles. In the house he didn’t often carry his guns around (although there were two guns in every room as a precaution. Kaz was never careless), so he’d taken to pocketing little toys to mess with instead of his pearl handle guns. 

He reached the living room, plopping down next to Inej, who was trying to beat Kaz and Jenga. Wylan was studying the wobbly structure, trying to decide who would lose first. Nina and Matthias were conversing quietly on the loveseat, worried looks passing between them. 

“So,” Jesper waved his arms around the space lazily, ignoring Inej’s indignant sound as his hand almost knocked into the tower. “Grisha hunters, Driffa, Driffa’s dear ol’ dad. What are we gonna do? What do we’ve to do?”

Inej pulled out her phone, biting her lip as Kaz laid another block on top of the Jenga tower, watching as it wobbled precariously. She went into her gallery, swiping past a couple pictures (Nina and her at a cafe drinking from matching cups, Jesper and Wylan building a new structure, Matthias in his football uniform and smiling at someone past the camera, Kaz with his scheming face, Wylan covered in gunpowder, NIna looking epic with her hands raised out in attack, Kaz picking a lock, Matthias crouched on the floor with his rifle out, Jesper shooting with his revolvers. How did she even get these pictures?), and finally landed on close ups of several document pages, pictures from a computer screen, and pictures of several banners in the Grisha colors. Jesper bit the inside of his cheeks. 

“Please tell me we’re killing this guy,” Jesper said.

“Tonight,” Inej promised. “We’ll be striking tonight.”

Jesper nodded. “So what’s the plan?”

Inej took her turn, taking one of the Jenga blocks from the side of the tower swiftly, then placing it on top. She hald her breath as the tower, which resembled a bombed building at that point, wobbled. Her and Kaz had gotten higher than he ever had, many of the levels being supported by only one block. The tower didn’t fall, and Inej smiled, then nodded at Kaz to take his turn. “Simple, really. Nina wants to get him herself, so she and I will sneak in tonight. Their having a little ‘dinner party’ with many of the people volunteering to be Grisha hunters and such around 7, although according to Marnim himself— Kaz hacked his accounts and saw what he’d been talking about with Driffa— he will only show at 7:30 on the dot. Driffa will be greeting and entertaining the guests for half an hour as Marnim finishes getting ready and takes care of some bills.” Inej started. 

Kaz’s black shark eyes studied the tower. “Nina and Inej will come in through the back. Marnim doesn’t believe much in guards, so he’s hired four for the night, two by the door and two looking over the grounds. He has cameras, but thanks to our own little merchling,” he nodded at Wylan, who smiled a little, “we can have the whole grid of the house out,”

Nina and Mathias had stopped talking, and looked over. “Inej and I will go in through the back. The only rooms that will be in use are the kitchen, the dining room, and the living room, although Driffa said she planned to give all the guests a brief house tour upon entering. They have a backup generator, so we’ll only have a brief window of time to get in there, and we can’t be caught by that stupid, bigoted, princess of bit—” 

Inej looked at Nina, who bit her lip but looked like she was itching to launch out in curses in all the languages she was so good at. 

“ANYway,” Inej said. “We’ll try and avoid people, but they’ll probably all gather in the kitchen while the lights are off. Nina and I will be wearing the Gray Imp and Lost Bride for the Komedie Brute, and once we get into his room, since I already know the layout of the house, Nina will burst his heart. Wylan, generators?”

Wylan shrugged. “Kaz says that they are up in 10 minutes, but if I can do this all well, you’ll have 15 minutes. If you do a good in and out, you’ll have plenty of time.”

“Who’s going?” Jesper asked. 

Kaz shrugged. “I don’t need to come, although Inej does need to steal the laptop, tablet, and phone that Marnim uses so I can make sure all the ‘transactions’ go as planned, and so that I can plant some of the things on the devices to get a few of the Dime Lions, and maybe Driffa, arrested. Some of them might even meet their death in the gallows.”

Kerch still practiced the very old art of hanging, unlike the other countries, which had moved to injecting fast working poisons, shooting heads out, or shocking then to death.

“Also,” Kaz continued, motioning for Inej to take her try at the tower, “Wylan will be going with them because he needs to take care of the electricity in the place. The generators are some ways off from the house, so he doesn’t have to be worried about anything. Just in case, he’ll be dressed as a Mister Crimson. Jesper, you’ll be going with them, just in case things go wrong. As long as you have that silencer I bought, feel free to pick off these three,”  
Kaz handed him 3 papers, each with a picture and a name. Some of the higher ups of the Dime Lions, Jesper could tell, from the tattoos on their shoulder. His hand skimmed his own forearm, passing over the Dregs tattoos. “Sure, I can do that,” 

_ Bang, bang, bang, _ he thought. 

“No!” Inej shouted. “No no no no no no,”

But there was nothing she could do but watch at the holed tower of blocks fell, her handswaving wildly. She had just grabbed another block from the tower, and the tower gave out. The blocks tumbled onto her knees, but Inej barely reacted to the jutting edges hitting her legs, instead looking at the block in her hand as if it had just betrayed her horribly. 

She looked up at Kaz, who was smirking, the winner of the game, and pouted. “Why do you always win?”

“Because I’m better?”

“That is so arrogant, Kaz,” She threw the block in her hand at him, and he caught it easily. 

Kaz shrugged. “I am a  _ con _ fidence man. That is where the term ‘con man’ comes from.”

Inej gave a little snort. “Just shut up,” 

Kaz rolled his eyes, and leaned down to help Inej clean up the blocks. It didn’t pass by Jesper that their hands, even if Kaz’s hands were currently gloved, brushed more than necessary. 

Once upon a time, before the crew had gotten together and Jesper had begun to get interested in Wylan, Jesper might’ve been jealous. Jesper could admit to himself that he used to have a bit of a crush on Kaz, which was ridiculous on so many levels, but he couldn’t help. Kaz was honestly a bit of a looker, and his clever mind and fightings skills did nothing to help Jesper out. Inej was pretty, but she was more like a sister to him, and he trusted her more than anyone. He had been jealous over their closeness, the way they trusted each other, but now he just wanted to push them together into the kiss that had to be approaching soon. If it didn’t happen, Jesper swore he would die from the slow anticipation. He’d never been good at reading slow burn fanfics (he blames Nina). 

“Checkers now,” Inej said.

Kaz raised his eyebrows. Jesper laughed. “Checkers?”

“What’s wrong with checkers?” Inej said.

Nina laughed. “It’s just . . . checkers.”

“I don’t see the issue,” Matthias said. “We often played checkers in the early years of being  _ drüskelle _ .”

Even Wylan was shaking his head at the two of them. Jesper and Kaz shared a raised eyebrow glance, then looked back at Inej. “Checkers,”

“Well, if you would prefer chess—”

“No,” said Kaz, cutting her off. “Checkers is fine,”

He grinned at her, a rare thing for any of them to see, and laughed once more. “It’s just— Checkers,”

They all laughed as Inej and Matthias both turned their heads up and muttered a prayer to their own gods, most likely cursing their annoying friends.

 

* * *

 

“How about I just shoot everyone?” Jesper asked as he swerved the car around the curve.

“No!” the others exclaimed from the back seat, all clutching each other. Nina sat in the middle, with Inej and Wylan on either side of her, hugging each other as they smacked into the doors of the car. 

“Why not?” Jesper said.

“Because Kaz,” Inej answered,

“About that,” Jesper said. “Are you two, you know, a two?”

“Excuse me?”

Nina sighed. “To put it simply, Inej, are you and Kaz dating?”

Inej grumbled. “Why are we talking about boys? Jesper, I didn't know you were into girly gossip.”

“Inej, I’m into most of everything,” Jesper laughed. “But no, seriously, what is going with you two? The sexual tension is killing me,” 

He ignored their shrieks as he took his hands off the steering wheel and mimed slashing his throat.

“That is technically none of your business,” Inej. 

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“Wylan?” Inej said, seeking help from the other pastry. 

Wylan shrugged. “Sorry, Inej, but I’m honestly a bit curious myself,”

“It’s decided. You’re wearing high heels at practice tomorrow,”

“That is so unfair!”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m making Hearth and Hale do it too. I’m not sure about Alex, but we’ll see,”

“That  _ doesn’t _ make me feel better,”

“Deal with it,”

“Anyway, Inej, you and Kaz,”

“I don’t know,” Inej said after a moment.

“What do you mean?” Nina said.

“I mean, like, things have happened—”

“Kissing?” Jesper asked, hungry for new details.

“No!” Inej said, blushing. She obviously had the thought before.

“Then what?” asked Wylan.

“Um, well, flirting . . . and cuddling a lot . . . we’ve always shared food, but we’ve been sharing a lot more lately. A lot of candies too,” she smiled a little about that, and Jesper remembered the day they found them both flushed over the counter. “And he holds my hand. Once without gloves,”

“FINALLY!” Nina said. “FINAL-FREAKING-LY!”

Jesper grinned at Inej through the mirror. “About time!”

Wylan smiled silently, but he did poke Inej on the shoulder playfully.

“Jeez, you guys, what’s with the reaction?” Inej mumbled, but Jesper could see a pleased smile on her face. 

“Next thing you know we’ll come into the kitchen and find them making out!” Nina said.

“NINA!”

 

* * *

Jesper and Wylan saw Inej and Nina off, the girls wearing their Komedie Brute outfits, then parted ways themselves. 

Wylan went to the generators, and Jesper took his rifle from his back and climbed a tree from across the street, thanking rich peoples for their windows. He had a perfect view of the dining room from the vantage point. 

He silently counted the minutes, trying not to twitch. He could imagine Wylan next to the generators, his nose crinkled as he concentrated, his big, sky-blue eyes focused on the task at hand. Jesper was definitely going to follow up on the morning’s events later. 

He sighed and tried to count the stars, then the leaves, then started to silently snap some of the smaller twigs. His hands seemed to move on their own, and ran through his head, rested on his guns, tugged at his shirt. He watched as some of the guests arrived and were greeted by Driffa, a pretty girl with pale skin, platinum-blonde hair, and pale blue eyes. She was Fjerdan, but somehow had found herself living in Kerch. She showed off her dress to some of the ladies, few as they were, and Jesper wondered why he couldn’t just shoot her too. 

Finally, at 7:25, the lights went out. Jesper hear several exclamations from the people inside the room, and as they had predicted, he saw the shadow figures pool into the living room. 

Jesper waited for the lights to go on. He could only shoot once he could see, and he wasn’t supposed to shoot until Marnim’s death had been revealed. 

12 long, excruciating minutes passed, and then the lights flickered back on, the house whirring back to life. Jesper focused on the stairs that started in the dining room and went up to the bedrooms and office. There, a Gray Imp and Lost Bride stood, a very slumped, very dead man between the. Someone screamed. 

They pushed the body off the stairs, and it landed on the floor. People stepped back as Marnim’s head cracked open. Jesper trained his gun at the three people he had to kill.

A blond man with half his hair shaved. Amonii Leser.

_ Bang. _

A black haired man with tattoos on his face. Isara Iku

_ Bang. _

A brunette woman with metal spiked bracelets. Noma Illo

_ Bang. _

Glass shattered as the bullets passed through the glass. Jesper dimly wondered if he should have looked for an open window. 

The bodies fell to the floor one by one, and blood splattered the floor, the walls, the people around them as mose their brains leaked onto the floor. Jesper grimaced. He didn’t really mind the gore, but it was a bit too messy for his licking sometime. He preferred the thrill of a fight than the actual beating people up part.

He heard the screams, of anger and fear both, travel out the house into the street, into the city. Blood had been spilled tonight, and Ketterdam knew it. Relished it. Like Kaz said, the city pays in blood. 

Somebody took a gun from their pockets and aimed it at the Gray Imp, but Inej threw a knife into his forehead before he could shoot. Nina raised her hands and lowered their heart rate dangerously fast, and they fell one by one to the floor. The guards stationed outside by the front of the house has simply stared at the window earlier in surprise, not expecting soundless gunshots. They seemed to come alive and tried to get inside, but two more expert shots from Jesper had them lying on the floor. He had been tempted to spare them, shoot them in the leg and be done with it because he didn't feel like killing two poorly paid lads for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but he couldn’t risk them telling the police Inej and Nina’s height and figure for the police to investigate. He killed them.

Jesper heard rustling under him, and nearly shot Wylan in surprise. Wylan raised a brow. “Not a target, Jes,”

“Not for my gun, maybe,”

Wylan rolled his eyes, flushing pink despite his nonchalance. “They coming?”

“Yeah,” Jesper pointed at Inej and Nina as they stepped down from the staircase quickly. Jesper was pretty sure dumping Marnims body hadn’t been part of the plan, but you could always trust Nina to side with the dramatics. 

As the two girls paused Driffa’s body, NIna paused. With a swift slash of her hand, Driffa’s unconscious little head was suddenly free of her near-white hair. The lockes fell to the floor, and NIna picked them up and threw them into the fireplace, leaving the Fjerdan girl bald.

Jesper whistled silently. “Damn,” he said. “She must really hate her if she’s cutting off her hair. Girls, and yeah, some boys too, practically worship the stuff.”

Wylan made a sound of agreement, and they watched Nina and Inej walk out the front. They both paused at the dead guards, then moved on, probably thinking the same things Jesper had. 

Jesper and Wylan went to the car, and waited for the girls before heading home.

 

* * *

 

“I hope she’s traumatized,” Nina said later. 

“ _ Nina _ .” Inej chastised. 

“What? We can’t both be merciful and serene,” Nina said, kissing Inej on the cheek. “Thanks for the help,”

Inej swatted Nina away, but smiled nonetheless. “Anytime, Zenik,”

Jesper smiled at the two of them, and hugged Wylan closer. Wylan squirmed a little, trying to see the screen on which Inej and Kaz were playing Mortal Kombat. The two of them had a weird tradition of naming a day every few weeks which they spent most of the time playing countless games. It was getting closer to midnight, but the two of them wouldn’t be going to sleep till much later. Jesper would have usually made a joke about staying up all alone together, but now that there was actual progress between them, he was scared of putting them off. He needed to walk in on them kissing on of these days.  _ Needed it _ . Then he and Nina would clasp hands and jump up and down squealing because their ship finally sailed. 

Jesper sighed wistfully, then turned his attention on Wylan. 

“You know, we could always continue this morning's events,” Jesper muttered. 

Wylan looked at Jesper, smiling a small smile. His cheeks still pinked, but it was all part of the merchlings charm. “Sure,”

A chorus of sarcastic ‘ _ Riiiiight’ _ s bid them farewell as Jesper announced that he and Wylan were going to go to sleep. Jesper didn’t really mind. 


	9. Christmas Anyone?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew celebrates Christmas and presents are given. They’re all so cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Christmas chapter, obviously. Not edited. Please comment. Also, the next chapter will probably be a New Year's one. Probably will come out after New Year's. Sorry for taking a while to update!

**Wylan**

 

( **I skipped some of the stuff I wanted to do because I really wanted to write a Christmas chapter, but before it was Thanksgiving, which is two holiday chapters in a row, and then New Year’s, but after the New Year’s chapter, we’ll be seeing more normal, less holiday stuff until around Valentine’s day.)**

It was December 24th, and Matthias was in the air.

Wylan watched as Matthias darted around the house, putting up all the finishing touches for the day. The had not decorated the outside of the house past some more snowmen, courtesy of Inej and Kaz, but the interior of the house had lights, little snow bears, Santa hats in every corner, candy canes, red, green, and white. Christmas music played quietly all day, every day. Tinsel hung above doorways, and six stockings stood over the fireplace on one end of the room. They rarely used it, because 1. Wylan, 2. Jesper, 3. Paranoia.

Matthias, with the help of everyone but Kaz, who simply stared while sipping hot coco as they begged decorations not to fall, had put together the whole thing. Most impressive was the Christmas. It towered over everything in the room, a Saint glowing at the top. Everyone had a tinsel color wrapping around the tree. Wylan had sky blue, Nina red, Inej dark purple, Jesper lime green, Matthias silver-white, and a black and silver for Kaz, which Nina and Inej had put up when Kaz wouldn’t. Dozens of ornaments hung from the tree, making it glitter and shine, and blinking lights glowed in a lovely, dim-bright way, giving Wylan pleasant shivers. Presents had been stacked under the tree, the presents color coded for who they were for. It was so cheery. Shame that Kaz and Inej had insisted on closing the black curtains tight so that no one would be able to see inside.

He caught one of the nails that Matthias had dropped while putting up a banner he’d made. Wylan couldn’t make out what it said, but he knew that Matthias had spent a lot of time on it. He’d locked himself in his room every day during the Break to toil away at creating the thing. He handed it back to the blond tulip.

Matthias grunted a thanks. “Hey, you think that you can get Inej to stop encouraging Nina to sing?”

Wylan laughed. “I’m not sure it’s possible, but I’ll give it a try.”

He jumped over Jesper, who was trying to make a few dozen bows to randomly hang up around the house. His nimble fingers were surprisingly good at it, and he had a variety of different styled bows mounted around him, slowly swallowing him up. Jesper looked up, blew him a kiss, then went back to work, nodding his head to whatever was playing in his headphones.

Wylan watched as Inej, who had taught herself many a Christmas carol, and was trying to impress her learning onto Nina, who was getting an A+ for effort, but an F for appliance.

“No, no, no,” Inej said. “You need to deepen it right there. Do you want me to do it again?”

Nina nodded. “Yeah. I honestly don’t know why you’re trying though,”

Inej looked amused. “Me neither. Anyway, here we go,”

Wylan knew that Inej could not sing a great many things. It wasn’t that she was bad, but she had never really sung anything out off a few Suli hymns, which were all beautiful, but sadly rare. Yet when she put her mind to it, it was amazing how her voice could ring out, high and low, deep and light, somehow contrasting itself, bending into something beautiful.

 

“Gods bless ye merry kith and kin,

Let nothing you dismay.

For all our good and saving Saints are happy on this day.

They save us from the darkness’s influence,

When we lead a life astray.

Oh-h, tidings of comfort and joy,

Acceptance and love.

Ohh oh tidings of comfort and joy.”

 

( **I changed ‘God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen’ for this. I don’t own the original version. Don’t sue me.** )

Wylan was about to clap as the last note hung in the air, but someone else beat him to it. Kaz, who was sitting passively on the couch, gave Inej a quiet applause. The Suli girl smiled happily at him.

Wylan grinned. “That was great Inej!”

Inej twirled her hair, which was in sporty ponytail high on her head. She looked a whole lot more confident with her hair like that somehow. They’d all stared at her earlier that day when they had seen her. She was wearing black leggings and a relatively tight purple sweater, and most odd, a thin, little silver circlet with tiny purple droplet gems hanging from it. She’d explained at breakfast earlier: “It’s something that Suli women wear on special occasion. I had to boy mine, but it usually gets passed down from mother to daughters, or daughters, who take turns with it. It’s thin and light, but impressive, just like us Suli. Especially the acrobats,”

She looked stunning, and none of them could even try to say her smile wasn’t radiant.

Nina grabbed Inej’s hand, giving it a little squeezed. “You’re way too good at this to teach me,”

“How’s that even supposed to work?” Inej asked. “C’mon, let’s try again.”

“Actually….” Wylan interrupted, flinching. “Matthias is um . . . suffering?”

Both Inej and Nina looked affronted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” Matthias said, struggling to stay on top the ladder he was using. “That Nina, dear, I need to concentrate, and I’m sorry, but I can’t do it with you singing. I just can’t,”

Nina muttered a few things under her breath, none of which were pleasant. She finally vocalized loudly, “You ain’t getting none of this tonight! And after all the trouble I went through with the Santa costume!” Nina gestured down at her body.

Jesper started to laugh. Kaz chocked on his hot chocolate. Inej and Wylan blanched. Matthias…fell of the ladder.

“Hey hey hey hey!” Jesper yelled. Kaz moved to pull him out of the way, but it was too late. Matthias fell on top of the sharpshooter, both their limbs flailing.

It was silent. Wylan had a feeling that the muffled screeches that were coming from under Matthias were yelled curses, but it was hard to be sure.

He moved toward the toppled two. “Jes, Matthias, are you guys okay?”

Kaz stood up, looking down at the two bodies, an unreadable expression on his face. Wylan noticed the way his lips were the slightest bit pursed.

Wylan tried to nudge the Fjerdan bulk off of Jesper, failing miserably. “Matthias, while I am worried about you, I’m more worried about the fact that you might possibly be suffocating Jesper,”

More screeching. Matthias blinked several times, dizzy and disoriented.

A puffed out noise came from Kaz. He covered up his mouth with a gloved hand, but they continued to come. It didn’t sound so much like a laugh or chuckle, which they had all heard from Kaz before, but a giggle.

His shoulders started to shake, and an expression of both joy and panic came over his face as he continued to try and quiet down his laughing. For a moment, the screeching stopped, but the flailing, insect like limbs from under Matthias didn’t.

Inej slowly approached Kaz, and with a swift movement from her arms, she’d pulled away the gloved hand from his mouth. Kaz attempted to shut his lips together, but he couldn’t. He giggle-laughed again, his eyes alight. “What—  Helvar— How even? Oh Saints, how, I mean, it’s just— you just fell oh Saints,” *Weird giggle noise* “Psshhh Jesper’s just flailing the screeching hahaha,”

The laughter that came from Kaz sounded surprisingly pure, despite the rasp they were all so used to, a childish peal of innocent laughter. They were all stunned, and Kaz panicked, if his darting eyes were anything to go by, by it.

Wylan knew Kaz would murder him if he ever heard Wylan’s thoughts, but it was honestly a bit adorable. He wondered if that was how Kaz used to sound as a kid.

Kaz bit his wrist trying to stop, but it was to no avail. His body still shook, and he was making quiet little snorts under his breath.

Inej stared at Kaz, her lips slightly parted in amazement. Wylan wondered if she was about to pull Kaz in and kiss him. She didn’t, instead bumping him lightly on the shoulder. Kaz turned to her, and Wylan could no longer see his face. Inej murmured something to Kaz that made him laugh again, a bit more quietly than before. Eventually, he gasped out, “I think someone should help Jesper,”

Shrieking answered him. Wylan thought he was able to make out: “MY FUCKING BOWS, HELVAR!” but maybe it was just his imagination.

Nina offered Matthias a hand, but her eyes were on Kaz, who was taking deep breaths, looking both embarrassed and annoyed, mostly at himself. Inej pulled him back down to the couch, like ‘you’ve had a bit of a day, sweetie. Your minds not quite right, how about you sit down for a bit?’

Matthias, with Nina’s assistance, got up and released Jesper, who gasped, took several breaths, and seemed more preoccupied about whether his bows had been crushed over his bones. “This one’s good, this one’s good… he looked down at the large bow he’d tapped to his long sleeved shirt, which looked great on him, id Wylan was honest. “This one is not fine.”

He turned to Matthias, glaring. “I’m going to show you a whole lot of pain, Helvar,”

“It wasn’t my fault! Nina said the thing about the thing and it startled me and and and,”

“And nothing, boy!” Nina said. “You crushed Jesper’s bow!”

“Yeah! I really liked this bow too!”

The two of them attacked Matthias, until Inej, who was sitting next to Kaz, leaning against him, spoke up. “I like the banner,”

That stopped the conversation. Before falling, Matthias had managed to put up the banner.

It was the Crow and Cup, and stitched sketch of the Ice Court, the Dime Lions tattoo with an ‘X’ over it, and under it, smaller icons. A pair of gloves with a coin in between each other the fingers, a knife with a small figure carved on its blade, a small, golden bomb with small numbers on it, two revolvers shooting a diamond and a spade, a white wolf with a scar over it and snowflake collar around its neck, and a Red hear with swirling red tendrils coming from it and golden sequins.

On the four corners of the banner, there was an N, M, N, F, which Wylan was glad to recognize, and above the first three larger pictures, it said something, but Wylan couldn’t read what. “What does it say?” he asked sheepishly.

Inej answered him. “Six of Crows. It says Six of Crows,”

Nina put a mouth over her hand. Jesper stared at the smaller icons, and Kaz seemed captivated by the three pictures. Wylan’s own eyes traveled over everything, impressed, a flower of affection for the Fjerdan growing in his chest. This most have taken much longer than break. It must have taken months, maybe most of the year, considering their busy schedules.

Oddly enough, it was Inej who moved to hug Matthias first. Despite the fact that both Jesper and Nina had both been shouting at him just a little bit before, that piled on top of her and hugged her too. Wylan got with the program and hugged to big blond tulip along with the rest of the. Kaz stayed behind, staring, and Wylan couldn’t tell if he wanted to join in or not. But they wouldn’t ask him to. The last time they had tried to rile Kaz into a group hug, things hadn’t gone to well. None of them had seen Kaz for a week.

Eventually, Inej slipped away, and Wylan moved his head away from them to give them a moment of privacy. They let Matthias free.

Matthias smiled wanly. “Am I still about to get killed?”

“Nah,” Jesper said. “We forgive you. Mostly.”

Matthias rolled his eyes, and looked at the banner again, proud of his handiwork, then looked at the others. “Come on. It’s only midday. We need to cook something up.” He gave Kaz, who was looking at Inej, startled, eyes wide. “Kaz, I very well know that you can cook. You’re helping bake pie.”

“Huh?” Wylan said surprised. Kaz could cook? He could bake? He could bake _pie_? “Kaz is going to bake?”

“Yes.” “No” Kaz and Matthias glared at each other.

“Matthias, we agreed that we wouldn’t talk about it,”

“Which I would have happily agreed with if you had lifted even a finger in helping decorate.”

Wylan grumbled. Kaz hadn’t done a thing, as far as he knew.

“Actually…” Nina and Inej looked at each other. “He did help us out…”

“Watcha mean?” Jesper asked, tenderly picking up his bows and putting them in a basket to tot around the house and put up. Little Lime Green Shooting Jesper.

Nina shrugged. “He did buy all the wrapping paper. Although he went five towns over and had to take Inej and I with him to pick them out,”

“So that’s where it came from,” Wylan said.

“And he also bought the lights,” Inej said. “He buys them new every year, because making sure they work is too much work, according to him. But I had to pick them up.”

“That’s why they always work,” Jesper mumbled.

“He’s the one that got us the discount on the tree,”  Nina lifted a finger, counting everything they were listing.

“I was so confused about that,” Matthias said. “People don’t go around giving you 80% off,”

“And he told me to go to a shop and ask for Saint figurines for the top. He had it written down under a different name, but he had it specially ordered,” Inej smiled.

“I thought you bought that,” Wylan asked.

“Nope,” Nina popped the p. “He’s used Inej and I and in betweens and stuff, but it was all him.”

They all looked at Kaz, who was pointedly staring at the wall, his fingers playing with something Wylan couldn’t identify. It was small, and some sort of design was on it. He hadn’t had it earlier, but that hardly meant anything when it came to Kaz.

“I’m not baking,” he said finally.

“Oh no no no no no,” Matthias said. “I don’t care about how you’ve funded this project. Actually, I do care, but now you’re going to make something with sentiment,”

“I don’t have feelings,”

“Your earlier laughter and Inej say otherwise,” Nina said.

Inej choked. Wylan laughed. Jesper threw a cushion at Kaz, whose jaw ticked. “C’mon, lover boy. Bake a pie for your sweetie.”

Inej had Jesper in a headlock in an instant, while Kaz had somehow teleported from the couch to right in front of Jesper, whose arm he twisted.

Wylan probably shouldn’t have laughed, but he did anyway.

 

* * *

 

“I want my dreamland, I need to go inland. Make me a new universe, take me into multiverse. I want my dreamland, my dreamland wants me. I want my dreamland, my dreamland wants me.” Wylan sang into the microphone in one of the side rooms of the basement. They were the last lyrics of one of Inej’s songs.

Inej stopped recording, smiling widely. “That was great, Wylan!”

Wylan grinned back at her, then flinched at the loud clang that came from overhead. Somehow, they’d gotten Kaz to back not one but two pies, pumpkin and apple. Wylan didn’t know how he knew to bake, but if the smell was anything to go my, Kaz was no amateur.

 

( **BTW those are my lyrics, I made them, hiss, hiss mine don’t touch don’t steal, yeah? Yeah.** )

 

Inej sniffed the air as if reading his thoughts. “You know, I knew that Kaz could bake,”

“What?”

Inej looked away. “After Kaz bought this house, or however else he might have acquired it, I was the first to move in. We lived here for a while before we got Jesper. Eventually, you all came, Nina, you, Matthias, but we lived alone for about 6 months, I think. Anyway, sometimes I’d come back from the University, back in first year, and he had made small pastries. He always left them on the table, with note in his epically messy handwriting reading _Inej_ ,”

Wylan laughed. All handwriting looked messy to him, but he often heard Matthias complain about it. Once, Kaz had written painfully slow to prove to Matthias that he could write neatly, but that it took too long to make it perfect.

“Keep going,” Wylan said, sitting down on one of the several couches in his basement after Inej had downloaded the recording. She pulled out her phone and started uploading it onto her blog.

“I knew he didn’t buy them somewhere else because the whole house smelled like whatever pastry it was, and there were always dirty kitchen stuff in the sink, which he had to mash later. I only ever saw him bake once, and it was amazing. I mean, he was so fast, and he didn’t have a recipe or anything out, just had them all in his head. He was making a small cake for my birthday. He asked me if I wanted anything. Previously, I’d asked for another knife, but I told him I wanted to see him bake for once. He stared at me for a bit, like ‘wtf are you thinking’, but the next day, my birthday, he just randomly got up and made it for me. After Jesper moved in, he didn’t really bake anything anymore. But my birthday, he always makes something and hides clues for me to find it,” She stopped suddenly.

Inej was blushing a little bit, as if embarrassed. “I really hope that he doesn’t get mad if he finds out I told you that,”

“You two are too…” Wylan made wild hand gesture.

Inej smiled. “Sometimes I feel like,” wild hand gesture* “Is the only way to describe us.”

“So,” Wylan asked. “Any knew poetry?”

Wylan really liked Inej’s poetry. He couldn’t read it of course, but it was very inspired. When she first came to him with her words, he’d been skeptical. Why share poetry with someone who can’t read it? But Inej had seemed reluctant to share it with anyone else, even Kaz (especially Kaz). She knew about Wylan’s problem, but she also said that Wylan had a way of understanding words, and voice tone. He had honestly felt a bit honored. Jesper was Wylan’s boyfriends, but Inej was his best friend. They shared dance, the poetry and singing, (the shortness), age, and just this general knowledge that they could trust each other. Well, they could, to a certain extent, trust everybody in the house. But it was with Inej that Wylan shared his real, darker interpretation of words that reminded him of his father, and Inej who shared the poetry that described her life in the Menagerie.

“Yeah,” Inej said. “Can I share it?”

“Of course,”

Inej turned her phone off, and grabbed her notebook, flipping it open.

“Okay,” she said. “I don’t really know why I wrote this, but…”

She cleared her throat.

 

“A child’s cry is no cry at all,

But the depths of blue and darkness,

Clawing itself out by a child’s throat,

A torrent of claws and talons,

That rip apart the tender red, she the poor cords.

Now, you must wonder…

What causes the transparent tears on a child’s face?

Is it truly the cry’s’ reason?

Or the cry itself?”

 

She looked up at Wylan, looking uncertain. “So?”

“Dark,” he said. “But I know what you mean. Crying really, you know, hurts. It just sorts of tears through you, makes it hard to breathe. I like the end. I never really thought that it hurt enough to make me cry, but I can look at it this way: I didn’t want to cry, and I’m hurting because it’s a show of weakness, which makes me want to cry more,”

Inej nodded. She never corrected his interpretations of the song, but sometimes tells him the inspirations. She didn’t this time, but he didn’t really mind. “More?”

“Sure,”

“These ones are really weird.” Inej muttered. “I just needed to get them out. This one is a bit more normal than the others though.”

 

“We stand apart from the crowd.

Because we don’t need to be loud.

We stand apart from the crowd,

Because we don’t need to be wild.

We stand apart from the crowd,

Because we don’t need to be so goddamn proud.

Understand now?

We are not behind, at, or even ahead of them,

Those who need to, want to, have to be everything

They think we are, but need it twisted, wronged.

We stand apart from the crowd.

We stand above them all.”

 

Wylan smiled. “Definitely like that one. It’s about us, I presume?”

“Mmhmm. Pretty self-explanatory. The Barrel wants to be us, but they twist and mess up what

and who we really are way bad, which makes us look even better, which we are,” Inej said.

“One more,” Wylan pleaded.

Inej opened her mouth, about to respond, but the door of the basement above the staircase swung  

open, flooding them with light. “Hey, Wylan, Inej,” Jesper called. “Time to eat!”

 

* * *

 

Christmas dinner was actually smaller than Thanksgiving dinner, with baked potatoes, coleslaw, and ribs. Inej thanked her Saints, Matthias his gods, and Nina poured everyone a glass of wine. In Kerch, the drinking age was 15 or something, which probably wasn’t smart, but it was simply a traditional thing, or old rule, like lynching and calling the business men ‘merchants’. They hadn’t drunk an Thanksgiving, but Jesper had finally convinced them.

“Anyone want to do a toast?” Nina asked.

“Um,” Wylan started. Everyone turned to him. “To friendship?”

He raised his glass.

“To safety,” Inej said, following suite with her glass.

Jesper almost spilled his wine as he raised it with a flourish. “To alcohol! And a lot of cheer,”

Matthias slowly raised his glass. “To raising our hope and spirits,”

Nina flipped her hair, raised her glass, and laughed. “To being spectacularly awesome!”

Kaz rolled his eyes. “I’m not too sure this is how a toast works, but to us, the Six of Crows,”

He raised his glass, and everyone clinked their glasses together, somehow not spilling a drop. Wylan was impressed.

He looked around the table. Everyone had dressed up to some degree, as they had prepared for the pictures they would take during a break as they ate. They would need it.

Jesper was dressed in green and blue and white plaid, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and dark blue jeans. He’d really held back on his beloved Barrel flash. He said he hadn’t ripped the jeans up or worn them down simply to keep them nice for the occasion. His outfit was simple, but so, so good on him.  

Wylan himself was in a white, short sleeve button up and black pants, feeling fine despite it being a bit like how he dressed up to his father’s dinner parties. Now, this sort of clothing reminded him of choir and music performances, cons with the group, and Christmas dinner instead of drawn out dinner parties, his meetings with high end tutors, and attending elaborate merch weddings.

Nina had on a red dress, sticking to her signature color, with long sleeves and a not so long skirt that reached somewhere above her knees. She’d curled her hair even more, and they locks fell across her shoulders. She seemed radiant, happy to dress up. Not that she really needed an excuse, but for once it went with her surroundings. Things actually matched. Wylan had helped her do her makeup, which was eyeliner and lipstick. Apparently, she was incapable of putting it on herself, although she was a master with others.

Matthias had on a dark blue button up and black pants, which Nina had just _eaten up_ , and had bothered to comb his shoulder-length golden hair. He seemed to be feeling pretty natural in it all, and was constantly complementing Nina, who was both exasperated and pleased. They looked cute together.

Kaz wore a black buttoned up, with his sleeves down of course, and it was quiet the change compared to his usual black one. He still kept his pants black, but they were actually more relaxed than usual. He was practically dressing down, not up. Inej had still paused when she looked at him though. No doubt she’d noticed how it was snug around his shoulders, , and how his lean body, while not exactly defined, was definitely not covered up either.

Inej was actually wearing a dress. Nina and Jesper had whistled at her when they saw it. It was lilac, with thin shoulder sleeves and modest heart neck line. The skirt flared up and reached her knees, and lower on the dress you went, the slightly darker the color got. She still wore thing tights of her skin color, which were hard to notice and didn’t even appear to be there, and Wylan suspected it was more to comfort herself than anything. Her hair fell down her back, free of her usual braid, straight and thick and dark like an oily waterfall. She wore no makeup, which didn’t surprise them, but the small smile on her face was good enough for anyone. The circlet from before was still in her hair, keeping if from her face. Kaz had tried not to stare, but honestly, if everyone else was staring because she looked beautiful, he was going to stare because she looked gorgeous.

Wylan had taken a picture of when they, Kaz and Inej, had seen each other, because the angle and the expressions and the clothes and the sentiment had been just too good.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, ravishing the potatoes, sipping their wine, and enjoying the silent company.

 

* * *

 

“Picture time!” Nina announced as the others conversed about this and that. Wylan jumped in his chair, startled.

Kaz sighed. “Do we have to?”

“Yes!” the others answered. Even Inej and Matthias.

Actually, Wylan suspected that Inej had already taken a dozen pictures and they simply hadn’t noticed.

Nina had them stand up and went to grab her camera; positioning it on the furniture and making everyone stand around the Christmas tree. She put it on timer, and scrambled to scoot in next to Matthias. They smiled at the camera, even Kaz, although his lips were closed. They also took a picture under the banner, and by the food. Then they took them in smaller groups. Jesper and Wylan, with Jesper’s arm around Wylan’s shoulders, leaning in towards him. Nina and Matthias were she kisses his cheeks and they laugh. Nina and Inej, holding each other by the waist and flashing twin smiles. Jesper and Nina, sticking out their tongues out at each other. Jesper and Matthias took one where they were comparing their height  

too.

At first, Kaz didn’t want to take a picture, choosing to take them for the others instead, but they got him in there. Wylan took the one with Jesper and Kaz standing side by side, relaxed and smiling. Then Matthias and Kaz, which Nina had taken before they’d even straighten themselves out, so they were both rolling their eyes. Wylan and Nina took one with him as well, one on either side of him, eyebrows raised while he looked up at the ceiling. Jesper and Inej took one with him, with Jesper in the middle, one arm around Inej’s waist and the other raised, asking Kaz for a fist bump, who obliged after a moment. Of course, gloved, although tighter ones than usual were in place.

Inej took another picture with Kaz, when they simply stood side be side, smiling at the camera. Nina had taken it, Wylan next to her, and they noticed both Inej and Kaz had leaned into each other a bit. Their shoulders were touching.

Jesper and Inej also took a picture, in which they were grinning at each other a bit silly-like. Wylan and Inej also took one, comparing heights like Jesper and Matthias had. In general, it was a lot of fun. Everything was a lot of fun.

 

* * *

 

**Inej**

 

( **Yeah, you read right. It’s changing P.O.V** )

 

Inej sat down next to Nina. Christmas dinner was ending, and now they were going to stay up as late as possible, which was actually the whole night, but they tended to go to sleep at 3 just to give themselves some sleep. She scrolled thought the pictures she’d gotten, stopping entirely too long when one of Kaz came up. The shirt was just too good on him.

Kaz peeked over her shoulder after her thumb hadn’t moved for a while. He was sitting on the couch behind her, lazily drinking hot chocolate and making slow conversation with Jesper and Wylan. The picture was of Kaz laughing at something Jesper had said during dinner. She hadn’t forgotten of Kaz’s earlier laughter, the giggles of a child, which had been cute and pure and way too kissable somehow.

Kaz raised his eyebrows at her. “Nice picture,”

Inej blushed. “Shut up. But actually, it is,”

Kaz bit his lip and rolled his eyes. Inej watched him slowly release his lip from his teeth, pale and pink.

Inej grabbed Nina’s camera from Nina’s lap. Nina was sleepily mumbling to Matthias and twirling a piece of Inej’s hair in her fingers. She didn’t react.

She went to one of the pictures of her and Kaz, were Nina had encouraged them to do a classy pose. Both of them had answered sarcastically, but in the end, Inej had placed her hand in the crook of Kaz’s arm, which he had held out to her in a cute, old-fashioned way.

She showed it to Kaz. “I like this one,”

Kaz pointed at her. “I like this one,”

Nobody else seemed to hear the, but Kaz’s eyes immediately widened, Inej’s mouth fell open a little, and they just stared at each other. Of course, they both knew they liked each other, very much. And hints and all that were common. But technically, technically, this was the closest to a true confession they’d ever gotten.

Inej swallowed heavily, pointed at Kaz in real life, and said, “I really like this one,”

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Inej practically fell down the stairs from her room, and almost tripped going into the living room, which was ridiculous because the Wraith didn’t fall. She hadn’t been the first one up.

Actually, that was Matthias and Nina, although Nina probably through peer pressure. It was ten in the morning, but that hardly mattered. Sleep was sleep.

Inej made some weird eye contact with Nina, but her lip, and made a weird motion with her hands. Matthias looked confused, but Nina gasped. “Has there been a development?”

“Yes? I think? I don’t know?”

“What are you two saying?” Matthias asked.

They ignored him.

“What do you mean?” Nina said.

“Like, things were said, and um, yeah, and like,” she gesture at her hands weirdly and Nina nodded. “And it was just like, I wanted to, so bad, but you know how it is, and it was so weird, plus you all were there—”

“Wait, this was happening right next to—”

“Not all of it, I mean, like most of it, but then after everyone left and stuff—”

“What are you talking about?” Jesper asked from the basement floor. Wylan was behind him, and both looked more than a little tired, and satisfied.

“That’s what I want to know,” Matthias said.

“Wait, so how?”

“Like, 45?”

“Did anything screech happen?”

“I mean, concerning us, yes, but technically no because you know, it’s not really all that much to others,”

“Saints, I want the details so bad,”

“Details about what?” Kaz’s asked from the door way of his room. He stepped out, pulling a dark gray sweater over a white shirt. For once, he was the last one to appear.

Inej tackled Nina, who was tackling Inej. “Nothing!”

Matthias stared up at the sky. “I don’t get it,”

Wylan shook his head. “Are they speaking in code?”

“I only got like half of it,” said Jesper, eyes twinkling. “Thank the Saints that I read the same fanfics Nina does,”

“Not a word!” both Inej and Nina shouted at him. “I don’t know what you know, but if you even attempt to know more or spread the know, I will hunt you down!”

Jesper put his hand up. “Okay, okay, I got it,”

Kaz raised an eyebrow. Inej blushed and looked away some more.

Nina saved her. “Presents time!”

Everyone got in a circle, and the white wrapped presents were given to Matthias, the black ones to Kaz, the sky blue ones to Wylan, the green ones to Jesper, the red ones to Nina, and the purple ones to Inej.

“Who goes first?” Wylan asked.

Everybody looked at Kaz. “Him,”

Kaz rolled his eyes. “Clockwise?”

“Yeah,”

The order would be: Kaz, Jesper, Wylan, Nina, Inej, and Matthias.

Kaz grabbed a random present from his pile. “I don’t even know what to expect. I held back from following your expenses by hacking into your accounts.”

“I’m so proud,” Jesper said.

Kaz looked at him. Jesper shrugged.

“Whatever,” Kaz said. He always got a little awkward opening presents. “I pick this one,”

He grabbed a random present. “From Wylan,”

Wylan grinned. Kaz looked skeptical, but started to open it anyway. It was about the length of his arm, maybe a few inches longer. Kaz carefully took off the wrapping paper and was met with an

instrument case. He blinked several timed. Wylan gave a little clap of excitement, while everyone leaned in closer. He opened it. Inside was a shiny, black and silver electric violin, with a pair of knew ear buds to plug into them. Kaz looked impressed, but also confused. “This is great Wylan, but I don’t play violin. I don’t know how,”

“No worries,” Wylan said. “There’s a book I also got, it’s in my room, and I can teach you. I thought it fit you, with the whole lock picks fingers. You can plug it into the ear buds, and then nobody can even hear you playing,”

Kaz smiled. “That great. Thanks, Wylan,”

Of course, no hugs were interchanged, but Kaz’s thanks and smile made Wylan glow all the same.  

Jesper went next. “And this present is from….Matty!”

Matthias groaned at the nickname, but seemed pleased in being picked. “Open it quick,”

Jesper did as told, opening it excitedly. The present was two another set for building something, but interestingly enough, it was a Lego set for guns. Jesper grinned. Two of his interests into one. He and Matthias gave each other a fist bump.

Wylan picked up a gift. “From Inej,” he grinned at her.

Inej smiled back, and waited as Wylan unwrapped the gift. “Wow, a set of audio books,” He smiled. “It’s the books you and Jesper are always reading out to me. Harry Potter, Maximum Ride, The Red Queen series, and the Splintered series. Thanks, Inej!” he leaned past Nina to hug her. She hugged him back.

Nina picked at random. “Jesper, you are the Chosen One!”

Jesper laughed. “Hope you like it, gorgeous.”

Nina tore the wrapping paper away with no mercy. The present was a few books, one on code, which Nina had gotten interested in after mastering all the languages on their side of the glove, a book full of sarcastic things to say in any given situation, and a book on witch jokes.

Nina laughed gleefully. “I shall live by them!” she hugged Jesper.

Inej took a deep breath and surveyed her won pile. She didn’t really know who to pick from. Everyone had a few gifts from everyone, and she couldn’t decide who she wanted to find out from next. She nearly picked one from Nina, but her eyes settled on the tag of one from Kaz. In very small letters, under the ‘From Kaz’, it said _: Because I know_.

She picked it up. “From Kaz,” she announced. “Apparently, he knows something,”

Kaz straightened, focusing his dark eyes on her. Inej felt a shiver run down her back. Had she seriously, actually, um, done that? Was it, had it been real? She didn’t even know anymore. She needed to spill her guts to Nina.

She opened the present, carefully sliding off the wrapping paper, and slid out a small, thing box, with _Create_ spelled out in golden script. Inej lifted to top of the box, and saw a row of silver and purple fountain pens, each shining brightly. On the side of each one, _Inej_ was written out in cursive. A little card, almost like a business one, was above them. She held it out and read it to herself, not aloud.

 

_I know about the blog by the way. You and Wylan aren’t exactly discreet. I know you write in the note book (you’ve left it hanging around, open, on the counter a few times), so I decided to get you this. I hope you like them._

_-Kaz_

 

Inej felt both like smacking herself, and kissing Kaz. She settled for pocketing the note. She gave him a soft smile, the kind she knew he enjoyed from the way his eyes light up. “Thanks Kaz. It’s amazing,”

He gave her a small smile in return.

Inej motioned for Matthias to go, shutting the box of pens and holding it tight to her chest.

Matthias surveyed the pickings, and took one from Nina. "I don't really know what to expect,"

Nina shrugged. “I don’t know how you’re going to react,”

Matthias started to open the present. It was a small box, thin and light. Inej would have guessed a deck of cords, to be honest.

“It’s light,” Matthias said, opening it. “Oh,”

Nina smiled. “Oh,”  
Matthias looked at the small paper, turning it this way and that. “Are you telling me you got me hired at a place that takes care of wolves?”

“That’s not my only gift, if you don’t like it,” Nina said sheepishly.

“No, no, no,” Matthias insisted. “I like it. I love it,”

Inej scooted out of the way so that Matthias could kiss Nina on the cheek.

( **IF YOU WANT ME TO TYPE UP ALL THE PRESENTS IN ANOTHER, SHORTER CHAPTER ABOUT THIS MORNING, OR CHRISTMAS DAY IN GENERAL, COMMENT SO! Don't hate me for not putting it here. I have a life.** )

They continued to enjoy each other’s company, opening presents, sharing hugs, and laughing in general. They probably wouldn’t leave the house for most the day.

At one point, they decided to finally have breakfast. Wylan and Jesper volunteered to be the cooks.

Inej went over to Kaz, who was reading a small manual on his new electric violin, which she couldn’t wait to see him play.

“Hey,”

Kaz looked up at her, unsure. “Hi…”

Inej grinned. “I loved all the gifts,”

“So did I,” he answered.

She sat next to him. Awkward.

“So,”

“So,”

Inej took a deep breath, and did what had made them so awkward in the first place again. She brushed her lips against his cheek.

Kaz tensed, but didn't pull away from her. Nina and Matthias were turned away. Inej smiled a little when Kaz moved to hold her hand. She pulled away from his cheek, but before she had moved more than a few inches, Kaz turned and pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

Inej smiled and leaned against his shoulder. Merry Christmas indeed.


	10. Christmas Day Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew opens tons of gifts, Kanej c’mon it’s needed, cuteness overall, everyone is family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took forever, somewhat edited, please read everything in bold becuase I want you to, the extra gfts are at the very end, long, enjoy please comment!

**Inej**

**(I know that the previous chapter also had Inej in it, but I would prefer to write the gift giving from her point of view. BTW, a few parts from the gift giving last chapter are on here because it’s easier for me that way. Also, this chapter will keep going round and round with the presents, and everyone has more than one present from everyone else. I’ll try to get through a few rounds of present giving, with them probably taking a break or something at some point and restarting. The presents stop after I run out of ideas.)**

“Presents time!” Nina announced.

Everyone got in a circle, and the white wrapped presents were given to Matthias, the black ones to Kaz, the sky blue ones to Wylan, the green ones to Jesper, the red ones to Nina, and the purple ones to Inej.

“Who goes first?” Wylan asked.

Everybody looked at Kaz. “Him,”

Kaz rolled his eyes. “Clockwise?”

“Yeah,”

The order would be: Kaz, Jesper, Wylan, Nina, Inej, and Matthias.

Kaz grabbed a random present from his pile.

He always got a little awkward opening presents. “I pick this one,”

He grabbed a random present. “From Wylan,”

Inside was a shiny, black and silver electric violin, with a pair of new ear buds to plug into them. Kaz looked impressed, but also confused.

Kaz smiled. “That great. Thanks, Wylan,”

Jesper went next. “And this present is from….Matty!”

Matthias groaned at the nickname, but seemed pleased in being picked. “Open it quick,”

Jesper did as told. The present was another set for building something, but interestingly enough, it was a Lego set for guns. Jesper grinned.    

Wylan picked up a gift. “From Inej,”

Wylan unwrapped the gift. “Wow, a set of audio books,” He smiled. “It’s the books you and Jesper are always reading out to me. Harry Potter, Maximum Ride, The Red Queen series, and the Splintered series. Thanks, Inej!” he leaned past Nina to hug her. She hugged him back.

Nina picked at random. “Jesper, you are the Chosen One!”

Jesper laughed. “Hope you like it, gorgeous.”

Nina tore the wrapping paper away. The present was a few books, one on code, which Nina had gotten interested in after mastering all the languages on their side of the glove, a book full of sarcastic things to say in any given situation, and a book on witch jokes.

Nina laughed gleefully. “I shall live by them!” She hugged Jesper.

Inej took a deep breath and surveyed her own pile. Her eyes settled on the tag of one from Kaz. In very small letters, under the ‘From Kaz’, it said _: Because I know_.

She picked it up. “From Kaz,” she announced.

Kaz straightened, focusing his dark eyes on her. Inej felt a shiver run down her back. Had she seriously, actually, um, done that? Was it, had it been real? She didn’t even know anymore. She needed to spill her guts to Nina.

            She opened the present, and slid out a small, thin box with _Create_ spelled out in golden script. Inej lifted to top of the box, and saw a row of silver and purple fountain pens. On the side of each one, _Inej_ was written out in cursive.

She gave him a soft smile, the kind she knew he enjoyed from the way his eyes lit up. “Thanks Kaz. It’s amazing,”

He gave her a small smile in return.

Inej motioned for Matthias to go.

Matthias took one from Nina. "I don't really know what to expect,"

Nina shrugged. “I don’t know how you’re going to react,”

Matthias started to open the present. It was a small box, thin and light.

  
Matthias looked at a small paper, turning it this way and that. “Are you telling me you got me hired at a place that takes care of wolves?”

“It’s over the Summer though, so you’ll have to wait. That’s not my only gift, if you don’t like it,” Nina said.

“I like it. I love it,”

Inej scooted out of the way so that Matthias could kiss Nina on the cheek.

 

( **End of Gifts From Previous Chapter** )

 

It was Kaz’s turn again. He picked up another black-wrapped present, looking at the name tag. “From Nina,”

Nina flipped her hair shoulder in a ridiculously diva-like way that made Inej giggle. “Ooh, you better like it, Brekker,”

Kaz raised his eyebrows at her. “I don’t think you can threaten people into liking a gift,”

Jesper, Nina, and Matthias all gave a little snort. “Kaz, you would find a way to make it work,”

Kaz shrugged and started opening the present. It was a piece of clothing, dark gray, seemingly thin and stretchy. “A hoodie?”

“Not just any hoodie!” Nina said. “It’s thin material, right? But it’s super high quality, keeping you cool when it’s hot and hot when it’s cold, although I expect you’ll use it for the former. I hate when it’s Summer and you wear your coat, for whatever reason that you do it. It makes _me_ feel like I’m about to get a heat stroke or something. And it doesn’t look painfully sporty or anything, so it’s good for you,”

Kaz’s face was surprised, but he did give Nina a smile. “Thanks, Nina. It’s pretty cool,”

“Mmhmm. Better wear it,”

“Yeah, yeah,”

They didn’t even have to look at Jesper before he dashed to pick up a present. “Frooooommmmm INEJ!”

Inej laughed. “Saints, Jesper, and to think you didn't want to celebrate Thanksgiving. You’re super enthusiastic,”

“Thanksgiving doesn’t have presents,”

He started to open the present, and Inej leaned in eagerly, waiting to see his reaction.

“YAY!” Jesper held up a sparkly green fedora hat, sparkling and matching fingerless gloves, and a matching sparkly green vest. There were also sparkly green shoe laces to put into whatever pair he had. “Inej, this is awesome! I’ll be the flashiest sharpshooter to ever flash Barrel flash!”

Jesper leaned in and gave her a tight hug. Inej laughed. “I knew you would love it, Jesper,”

“Damn right I do!” he said, putting on the gloves and tilting the hat on his head at a would-be infuriating angle if it wasn’t inside the house and with the people he was around.

Wylan grabbed a large gift box and squinted at the writing, trying to recognize the letters. He knew the letters of the alphabet, all their names, his own, his father’s, and his mothers. “It’s from Jesper,”

Jesper clapped his hands, tilted his hat again, then crossed his legs, uncrossed them, and clapped his hands again. For once, Inej didn’t think he cared too much about the extra energy. “Open it. Open it. Open it.”

Wylan gave Jesper a little hove, laughing lightly. “I’m getting there,”

He ripped away the wrapping paper. “Oh wow,”

A mountain of CD cases fell onto his lap, the plastic corners clicking and clacking against each other. He picked up random ones, recognizing the bands by the cover art and insignias. “Linkin Park, Set It Off, Icon For Hire, Panic! At The Disco, ooh Lindsey Stirling, Kaz you might want to hear her she plays the violin. Fall Out Boy, the RWBY soundtrack… Melanie Martinez ( **So I know the whole thing about her raping someone is going around, I don’t know if it’s true or not, (apparently it is?) but still, I like her music so I’m putting it on here. I don’t have to like her to like her music, so deal with it and don’t go off on me like some weird Simon Snow shit (Rainbow Rowell) in the comments** ) and Imagine Dragons. And assorted nightcore stuff that you've been _infecting_ me with lately….”

 Wylan looked up at Jesper, grinning at his boyfriend and kissing Jesper on the mouth briefly. “Thanks, Jesper. I’ll be listening the Hell out of these soon,”

“That’s the point, merchling,” Jesper said, pulling him closer. Inej and Nina ‘awwed’.

“My turn!” Nina said, grabbing a present. “From Kaz! Every year, I’m surprised you get me anything, Dirtyhands,”

Kaz gave a snort. “That would mean risking Matthias and Inej’s wrath. I mean, Inej might be able to knife me in the back or something, but Matthias throwing pillows at me is even worse,”

They all laughed. Matthias grabbed a cushion off the couch and threw it at Kaz, who caught it and handed it to Inej. She considered throwing it back at him for the knife comment, but just set it in her lap and hugged it, using it as a stand.

Nina started to open the present. “What might this be? A ...ooooohhh”

Nina pulled out a wine colored leather bag with a cute outside pocket and the letter N written in fancy, slanted writing on it. “Is this real leather?”

Kaz nodded. “Yeah,”

Nina looked up at Kaz. “Goddamnit Brekker, this is because I kept annoying you and Matthias a few months back for the purse I saw at the store, right?”

Kaz shrugged. “Possibly,”

Nina broke into a smile. “If I didn’t think that you or your Wraith would kill me, I’d give you a hug,”

Kaz looked a bit confused. “I’m not even sure how you went from accusing to that… Also, Inej isn’t mine,”

“I wouldn’t kill you, Nina,” Inej protested, but smiled a bit at Kaz. ‘Inej isn’t mine’ he said. _A bit of my heart definitely is_. “Why is that even a thing you would say?”

“I don’t know, maybe you’d be like, _Kaz is mine, hiss hiss_ or something?” Nina made a cat paw with her palm and mimed a cat swiping. “ _Hiss hiss_ ,”

Inej huffed. “That's ridiculous.”

Nina leaned in really close to Inej’s face as if to push her meaning onto her. She still spoke loud enough for all to hear. “What if… say… Dunyasha, stupid bitch that she is, tried to make a move on Kaz?”

Jesper guffawed.

Inej felt her lips thin. “She’s already dead. Couldn’t try anything even if she was interested. Plus, she didn’t seem to really like Kaz,”

“But Inej,” Nina rolled her eyes. “Just imagine, what if she did?”

Inej said nothing.

Nina smirked, swiping a ‘paw’ at her. “ _Hiss hiss_?”

Inej bit her lip and looked away.

“Say it, Inej,” Nina poked her side.

“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” Inej replied. “Plus, it’s not like Kaz would like her back,”

She glanced at Kaz as he said it, and he made a bit of a face, shaking his head. Good.

Jesper was holding in his laughter.

“Oh, come on Ineeeeeej,” Nina said, laying her head on her lap. “You’d totally stick a knife into her chest,”

“I’d do that anyway,” Inej said. _Sorry, Saints._

“Inej and Kaz, thieving on the streets. K-I-L-L-I-N-G. First comes hand holds, then comes kissing, then comes make out sessions in the kitchen!”

Inej jammed a wad of Nina’s wrapping paper into Nina’s mouth. Matthias looked slightly affronted but also like he wanted to shake Nina and ask her if there was something wrong with her brain. Jesper and Wylan were giggling, Wylan burying his head in Jesper’s chest to try and muffled the sound. And Kaz… Inej couldn’t even bare to look at him full on. She glanced at him from the side of her eye, startled when she saw the faintest pink dusting on his cheeks, despite his fierce scowl. Kaz was _not not not_ a blusher. The words ‘Kaz’ and ‘Blusher’ shouldn’t be in the same sentence, they’d be too offended by each other.

The light, almost invisible pink she saw now was basically the equivalent of Wylan’s magenta blush. Inej chewed the inside of her cheek and glanced away again.

Nina spit the wrapping paper out. “Inej would totally get hissy if Dunyasha tried to flirt with Kaz. I mean, imagine this: Dunyasha likes Kaz, tried to make a move. He’s all cold shoulders and angry glares and so not interested, and she keeps doing it, right in front of our little Wraith. Dunyasha places her hand on Kaz’s shoulder, but before he can move to break her wrist and shatters her hand, Inej’s knives are out and she, like, severs her fingers, or her whole hand, or her whole forearm, or her whole arm. And she’s freaking _furious_ , and there’s blood everywhere and whatever, and it’s on her too, and Dunyasha passes out or something, and Kaz is just staring at her because he finds the ruthless thing she just did _hot_ and oh Saints I can’t even handle it I mean that’d be so disturbing, but honestly kinda hot I mean there are some pretty sick relationships out there and Kanej is usually pretty fluffy but tell me not there’d be these totally sadist-loving moments of ruthlessness and—” Nina was fanning her face with both her hands double-time. “And oh Saints, _yes_ ,”

Inej pushed Nina away from her. “NINA!”

Now even Jesper and Wylan were looking disturbed. Matthias had his head in his hands.

Nina looked around her. “Too much?”

Inej sent her a withering glare. “A few tons too many,”

“Ahahaha……” Nina scrambled up to the kitchen. “So, who wants hot chocolate?”

Inej groaned, and then looked at Kaz. He saw her look at him, then looked away, his jaw ticking.

“Anyway,” Inej said. “This ones from Jesper,”

Jesper clapped his hands. “Yay!”

Inej was pretty sure he had caffeine in his system.

Inej started to open the present, grinning when she saw what it was. “This is so cool, Jesper,”

She pulled out a medium sized snow globe with a girl that had a striking resemblance to Inej with her hands above her head, her chin out, one of her legs stretched back. She was wearing Inej’s usual black leggings and a blowy purple shirt that was adorable while covering most her skin. Inej hugged Jesper hard. “How’d you even get it?”

Jesper scratched the back of his neck. “I made it?”

“What?”

Jesper waved his fingers at her. “It was really hard, honestly, but I tried using my powers. I borrowed inks from Wylan and a figurine thing, then made some practice figures with clay. When I finally got it right, I ‘inked’ it in. The girl’s hair, or yours, I suppose, is just a ton of black threads that I put on her head. There’s snow too. Shake it.”

Inej shook the globe, and watched as a flurry of snowflakes rose up and swirled around mini-her. She noticed the pedestal the girl was standing on. There was a red stone, then a green one, a light blue one, a silver one, and a black one. She smiled.

Jesper laughed a bit. “You know what? Everyone just open a gift the same size as the one Inej just opened from me. That way everyone gets them at once,”

The others blinked and did as he asked. Nina sat down with mugs of hot chocolate in her hands and passed them around. That was fast. Everyone slowly pulled out a snow globe, around the same size. Nina looked at mini-Nina, who had her hands up, wearing a red _kefta_ , and was smiling. The pedestal she stood on had a purple stone, a green stone, a light blue stone, a black stone, and a sliver stone. When Inej squinted at it, she could see mini-Nina’s hair was also made of possibly hundreds of brown threads.

Wylan grinned down at his small version. It was Wylan, with a smile on his face, sitting criss-cross with a flute across his lap and goggles on his head. His hair was made from red and orange and yellow and strawberry blond strands that curled around each other. He was wearing his usual dark gray slacks and wool sweater. The pedestal he sat on had a red stone, a purple stone, a green stone, a silver stone, and a black stone.

Matthias had one of him grinning as he pet a small wolf figure. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a light blue sweater. His hair was made from yellow and gold strands that reached his shoulders. The pedestal he was kneeling on had a red stone, a green stone, a purple stone, a light blue stone, and a black stone.

Kaz’s was of him standing with his coat open, showing his usual black vest and white dress shirt. In one hand, he held his crow head cane, and in the other, a golden lock that hung from a chain. He had his scheming face on. His hair was made of black strands combed back, and tiny gray buzz on the sides, his usual hairstyle. His pedestal had a purple stone, a green stone, a red stone, a silver stone, and a light blue stone.

“Look at the snowflakes really closely,” Jesper said, grinning at their stunned expression.

Inej brought the globe so closed to her eyes she almost got cross-eyed. “They’re…knives and feathers… Saints, aren’t those actually my knives? I see Sankt Petyr and Sankta Anastasia and Sankta Alina, Sankt Vladimir, Sankta Marya, Sankta Lizebeta. Jesper, the detail you put into them is… amazing,”

Jesper grinned. “Nina, your snowflakes?”

“Hearts, the banner for the Corporalki, waffles and feathers…”

“Wylan?”

“Music notes, little bombs, numbers, flutes and feathers,”

“Matthias?”

“I see Djel the tree, wolf paws and faces, actual snowflakes, rifles and feathers,”

“Kaz?”

“…” Kaz seemed to be the most surprised by the globes. It took him a moment to answer. “Locks, _kruge_ coins, crows, the Crow and Cup, my gloves, and feathers,” Jesper leaned back, looking extremely satisfied. “I am not kidding when I say that I’ve been working on these for the better part of the year,”

Inej kissed his cheek, and did Nina, and Wylan just kissed him full on.

Matthias and Kaz looked at each other, then Jesper. “We are not kissing you,”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want your kisses, so I’m good with that,” Jesper said. He winked at Nina and Inej. “We all know I more than welcome Wylan’s lips, and the two pretty ladies can do whatever they want,”

They all rolled their eyes.

Wylan looked at Jesper. “Do you have one?”

Jesper shrugged. “I was starting on working on making one for myself, but it’s not finished. I’ll finish it sometimes in late Jan or early Feb. They take about a month and a half to two months each. I suck with my powers,”

Wylan just kissed him again.

“I like how we all have feathers,” Nina said. “Really connects everything. And the stones are super neat. It’s great,”

Jesper smiled, and then motioned for Matthias to continue the opening of normal gifts. Inej carefully set the snow globe on their coffee table. Matthias grabbed a long tube like present.

“From Kaz,” Matthias read out, sounding unsure. He started to unwrap it, as if expecting a spider to pop out, but nothing of the sort happened. Instead, he slid out a long poster. Everyone raised their eyes, and Kaz shrugged.

“Unroll it,”

Matthias did so, and they all gasped at the picture. It was a big, bright and dark at the same time, a vivid illustration. It was the tree of Djel, which they had seen at the Ice Court, icicles hanging from it, the freezing moat surrounding its island. White wolf eyes glinted in the snow, and the sky was a flurry of snowflakes and stars, a big, bright moon casting shadows over the whole place. Matthias looked positively impressed.

“Demjin, this is… this is actually nice,” Matthias said. Kaz gave a little chuckle, shrugging his shoulders.

“I was split between having the place I custom ordered it from to make one of Nina in your Fjerdan clothes and this,” Kaz said. “This, I decided, would be less of a cause for your girlfriend to murder me.”

Matthias didn’t even snap back, although Nina certainly looked like she wanted to. Instead, the blond tulip looked at Kaz, tilted his head, averted his eyes from Nina, and asked, “What’s the place? Maybe I can order the other option,”

Inej burst out laughing at Nina’s expression.

“MATTHIAS HELVAR WE’RE HAVING A TALK!”

“Nina!” Jesper admonished. “You can’t have sex right now!”

This set Wylan and Kaz off too, while Matthias flushed a bit and Nina tackled Jesper, punching his chest repeatedly. “I AM GOING TO DESTROY YOU ALL!”

Inej tried to take a sip from her hot chocolate, but she was laughing so hard she spilled it on herself. Kaz saw, and interrupted Nina’s beating of le poor Jesper. “Okay,” he chuckled a bit. “How about we take a break? Eat some breakfast? So that Nina will stop her rampage on Jesper and we can all catch our breath?”

There was some noise of affirmation, Inej thought, but it was hard to tell.

Inej kept laughing and muttering ‘ow ow ow’ as she got up. The others were still a tangle of limbs, because Matthias was trying to pull Nina off Jesper, who was partly intertwined with Wylan. It was a very interesting knot of limbs and curses from everyone involved. Inej was pretty sure she heard a ‘Get the fuck off of me, I’m tiny!’ from Wylan, which was half adorable and half intimidating.

Kaz just shook his head and they headed into the kitchen, Kaz handing her a kitchen rag to dry herself from the burning liquid. As the others busied themselves in becoming the masters of Twister, she and Kaz got out eggs, bacon, and after looking at the waffle machine, their eyes met and they looked for the pan instead. Damn the waffles, they were having Christmas pancakes.

Rebels.

“Cinnamon,” Inej said, handing Kaz a bottle of said awesomeness. “Put a little bit of cinnamon into the mixture,”

Kaz rolled his eyes. Inej had to admit, she was a bit obsessed with cinnamon. It was just _so good_. Inej would forever remain loyal to the cinnamon.

Eggs were cracked for the batter, milk poured, flour measured and added. The screaming in the living room didn’t stop, although one glance behind her shoulder told Inej all she needed to now. They were now play fighting, a laughing tangle of bodies as they threw pillows at each other. Inej heard Kaz give a little snort, and she turned to him, smiling.

“Any chance I can get a hint on my presents?” he asked her after a bit.

“Kaz, no. I tell you every year, no hints,” Inej said.

Kaz shrugged, looking through the cabinets.

“What are you looking for?” she asked him.

Kaz leaned back to look at her. “The chocolate chips,”

“Oh,” Inej tried to hide her smile, and failed. Kaz really did like chocolate. “I think they’re in the next cabinet,” she said, opening it and looking around.

“Yup, right there,” Inej looked up at the bag of chocolate chips, which were on the highest level of the cabinet. She tried to reach it by jumping up and down, but her fingers didn’t even brush the wood it rested on.

Kaz gave a small laugh, walking behind her and reaching over her to grab them. His whole body could cover Inej’s body easily. She tensed for a moment, thinking of how it felt when a man loomed over her at the Menagerie. Inej was tiny compared to most people, especially when she was younger. All the men had towered over her, crushed her. _Stupid. It’s just Kaz. Just Kaz. Kaz won’t hurt you._

Inej breathed in and out steadily, focusing instead on how her back brushed the lightest bit against his chest, the way his sleeve rode up a bit to reveal his pure pale skin. _Pure_. But it was true. Compared to her, Kaz’s body had gone untouched, or at least it was what she had always suspected, always been told. Kaz himself had never admitted to a single relationship, a single night.

She wanted to ask. She wouldn’t.

Back to the present. Inej huffed, turning to Kaz. Her head barely reached his shoulder. Damn him. Jesper and Matthias both had a few inches on Kaz, but that was because they were abnormally tall. Kaz was pretty tall himself, which was honestly a bit unfair. Inej was small.

Smol bean, Nina would say.

“I could have gotten it,” Inej complained.

Kaz looked down at her. “After climbing the counter. And then only a _maybe_ ,”

“Rude,”

Kaz grinned, and suddenly Inej smelled cinnamon. When? How?

He was sprinkling the cinnamon on her head.

“Kaz!”

“What? I was just turning you into a real cinnamon roll,”

“I will mess you up,” Inej threatened. Her eyes darted around the counters, looking for the flour.

Kaz put his hands on the counter, each one on either side of Inej, locking her in place. With anyone else, she might have thought _trapped_ , but honestly, it just felt sort of warm. He leaned forward a bit, giving her a smug smile. “How do you intend to that, Wraith?”

His thumb, suddenly ungloved, passed on the inside of her wrist. How did he move without her seeing him?

Inej blushed a bit. “I’d figure out a way.” _Vanish._

“Not with me, Inej. I can always see you,”

Saints, how does he always know what she’s thinking?

Inej partly hated herself for what she was about to do, but honestly, she wanted Kaz flustered.

She leaned forward, arching her back, parting her lips, fluttered her lashes the tiniest bit. “Hmm? Really now, Kaz? I don’t think you’ve seen nearly as much of me as you’d like,”

A part of her twisted up inside herself, disgusted, but she tried to summon that light sensation she always got when she watched Nina and Jesper flirt, a little silly feeling of ‘seriously guys?’ that was completely endearing.

Kaz actually stepped back, eyes wide. “I uh you why did you just um I mean. Uh. What?”

Any bad feeling left Inej’s mind as she giggled, then burst out laughing at Kaz’s expression. The sounds from the living room stopped, but Inej didn’t mind it, laughing so hard she doubled over, tears streaming from her eyes. She’d actually, truly, startled Kaz Brekker, flustered. She went onto the floor, seeing Nina through her glassy vision pop her head over the counter from the kitchen. “What’s up with Inej? Why is she laughing? Why does she have cinnamon in her hair?”

“I can only answer the last one,” Kaz muttered back at her, then grabbed the cinnamon container, took the whole cap off, and dumped it on top of her.

Inej started to cough. “Fudging *cough* stupid *cough* Idiot. Kaz that wasn’t *cough* necessary damn it *cough* *cough* *cough*.”

Nina slunk back into the living room. “Yeah, I don’t know what just happened. No, Jesper, I’m not even gonna try and get involved.”

She glared up at him. “ _Kaz_ ,”

He crouched down and flicked her nose. She scrunched it at him, then sneezed.

Inej looked at her satiny purple pajamas. “Oh c’ _mon_ , now I have to change,”

Kaz muttered something under his breath, something that sounded suspiciously like ‘ _You didn’t seem to mind taking your clothes off just a bit ago_ ,’

Fudging Kaz. At least he didn’t say it directly to her, for she wasn’t sure what she would reply to that. She most _definitely_ had **no** wish to take off her clothes.

They stared at each other for a moment.

“Don’t say stuff like that,” Kaz finally told her quietly.

Not that she was particularly interested in speaking like that, but still, “Why?”

Kaz looked directly at her. “No good tempting me in something neither one of us can go through,”

Inej shifted her eyes away, an easy submission compared to usual. He was right on that matter. “Right… though one day, I will say that to you, you know. And hopefully we can both act on the words,”

Damn, a promise. She did want to stay by him. But would stuff like that scare him away?

Kaz coughed, making a weird noise of affirmation. “Well, just… get changed, and then we’ll finished up breakfast while the others enjoy their weird orgy,”

Inej spluttered. “Kaz!”

He grinned at her tentatively, brushing cinnamon from her hair. “You’re smiling, I see it,”

“Whatever. I’ll get you for this, Brekker,”

 

* * *

 

She came back down in a different pair of pajamas because damn it all, it was Christmas as she wasn’t planning on leaving the house. She and Kaz finished making the pancakes, half cinnamon and half chocolate, which made the whole house smell oh so good. Nina momentarily complained about them cheating on the waffles, but one bite shut her up.

They ate, ravenous, then got back in their circle.

“Who’s turn?” Jesper asked, softly kissing Wylan’s curls. The latter boy was in Jesper’s lap, snuggling as he drank hot coco. Adorable.

“Kaz’s,” Nina said. Matthias and Inej had switched spots so that Matthias could sit next to Nina. Inej suspected that it was also so that she would have to sit next to Kaz, but whatever. Matthias and Nina were giving each other such cute looks that she couldn’t even complain. She shipped her friends so hard. In between Jesper kissing Wylan’s head and Matthias running his fingers through Nina’s soft brown hair, it was almost a bit too much. She was with two married couples, pretty much.

Kaz surveyed his pile, then grabbed one. “From Jesper,”

Jesper grinned at Kaz. “Go ‘head, Kaz,”

Kaz started to unwrap it. He slowly ripped away the black wrapping paper, curiosity flashing across his features as he slid out a thin, medium sized rectangular box. He raised his eyebrows, raising the top of it. 6 shiny card boxes greeted him. “Really, Jes?”

“Look at them,”

Kaz grabbed one of the boxes, opening it and sliding the cards out. The back of the card had the Crow and Cup on them, surrounded by purple-tinted black. Inej peered over Kaz’s shoulder to look at the faces of the card.

“I think that’s the one with us on them. They all have the same back design, the Crow and Cup. The others have designs on them, and this one is a bunch of our symbols,” Jesper grinned. “But looks at some of the King/Queen cards. Peek-a-boo,”

Kaz raised an eyebrow, flipping through the deck. “Nina’s the Queen of Hearts, I see. Heartrender. Wylan’s a Jack of Spades, like a jack of all trades, I suppose. You, Jesper, are King or Hearts, flirt. Matthias is a Jack of Diamonds, loyal to shiny, icy Fjerda, I imagine. Inej is the Queen of Spades, accurate for the little clawed Wraith, and I’m the King of Clubs. Also accurate,”

He gave Jesper a small turn up of his lips. “It’s pretty cool, Jes. I like them,”

“Look at the others!”

Kaz picked up another deck after returning the former to its place. He grabbed another deck, and it features different demons, which all seem to have the slightest resemblance to the six of them. Kaz grinned wickedly at the pictures, unlike the soft grins he’s been starting to give Inej. It sent shivers down their backs. “And the others?”

“One is a normal deck but the cards are black instead of white. Another one has blood coming from all the hearts and spades and clubs and diamonds. And one of them has a ton of really creepy/cool drawings of crows. The last one is one for us; the rest can go to the Crow Club. That one just has a bunch of our weirdest quotes on every card, with the numbers on the corner. You should have seen the face of the guy I got them for when I gave him a list of the quotes. Pretty sure he almost called the cops on me until he noticed I was the freaking sharpshooter in the drawings.”

They all laughed, and Kaz and Jesper high fived. Kaz had his gloves on, but even that simple connection made Jesper beam. Then Jesper asked for a fist bump. Usually, Kaz rolled his eyes and ignored him then, but for once he obliged, and Jesper’s grin grew crazy big, although surprise flashed in his eyes. Brotp.

Then it was Jesper’s turn again. He picked a small packet. “From Nina,”

Nina nodded at him, smiling the tiniest bit.

Jesper ripped apart the paper in his usual style, and a dozen or so gift cards fell onto his lap. He blinked several times, thumbing through them. “Oh wow, there’s like a gift card to every good clothes store in Ketterdam. Damn, Nina, how’d you get them?” he asked, leaning over to give the preening girl a hug and thank her.

Nina grinned. “I have my ways. Just imagine all the shopping sprees we’ll get to go on! And these are all for the stores featured only, and you can’t make them into cash, so you can’t go gambling with them,”

Jesper laughed sheepishly, setting the cards aside, his eyes already far away in the dreams of all the jaunty hats and odd colored pants he would be buying.

Wylan, sitting on Jesper’s lap, reached out for one of his presents cutely. Jesper handed it to him, chuckling under his breath. Damn adorable. Whenever they held hands, Inej just _couldn’t_ , it was so cute and fluffy and the way they smiled at each other made her squeal.

Inej was mooning, swaying from side-to-side. Kaz glanced at her. “What are you doing?”

“Fangirling: Quiet Edition,” Inej answered.

Wylan squinted at the tag, slowly mouthing the letters and trying to piece them together. “From Kaz,”

Kaz watched attentively, as did the rest of them. Wylan tore the wrapping paper off, and was greeted by a 5 inch thick, medium sized black suitcase with the numbers _23-25-12-1-14_ emblazoned onto it in a myriad of colors. Under the numbers, in a very small, square font, it said W-Y-L-A-N. Wylan blinked slowly, smiling as he figured out the numbers were the numbers that would be equivalent to the letters of his name in the alphabet. He opened the box, which had golden clasps, and stared. A dozen pencils were on one side of the case, and lead rectangles on another. “Wow, Kaz, these are expensive,”

Kaz gave a little shrug. “That’s only the first level. Lift up the corners,”

Wylan did on both sides, and was met by different pens to ink in drawings, and a special dipping ink pen with a little box of ink. “Ghezen—”

“More still,”

Another level revealed pastels and color pencils, all showing off their vivid tones, ranging from black to some weird radioactive –looking like color.

“Two more,” Kaz said.

The next layer was several different markers, with different sized tips at the end, each color having up to five different shades.

The last layer was little bottles of water color, acrylics, and oils. Wylan stared at each, amazed, his hands fluttering above each one. “Kaz, this is…This is amazing. Like, oh Saints, it’s just…wow…I mean…Kaz…”

Wylan looked like he was about to tackle Kaz and shower him with puppy love. Inej almost cheered him on.

Kaz just shrugged, and after a moment of consideration, he ruffled Wylan’s hair. The rest of the crew tried to look laid-back, but it was like all of their breaths caught at the same time. He was being more affectionate than usual, between giving Jesper that fist bump and touching Wylan. He might be wearing gloves, but still. It was a miracle of the highest kind.

He wouldn’t have been able to even consider that two years ago, Inej knew.

Wylan grinned in the most angelic way possible, and everyone’s hearts melted.

Nina picked a present from her pile. “From Matthias,” she winked at her boyfriend. Matthias grinned.

It was a small box, and Nina peered at it curiously before attacking the wrapping paper. It was a little red box, not like a wedding ring box, but definitely jewelry. Nina opened the top excitedly, and laughed happily when she saw the inside.

“What is it?” Inej peered over to see.

Nina showed her. It was a ting gold chain with a little red bird charm, and two small red bird earrings.

“Aww,” Inej said while Nina kissed Matthias. “Cuz she’s your little red bird,”

“Cuuuuutttteeeee,” Jesper smiled. “Once upon a time, you two wanted to kill each other, and now you have this cute little red bird thing going on,”

Matthias grinned and put the necklace around Nina’s neck, lifting her chocolaty curls.

Inej and Matthias looked at each other, and Inej shrugged, motioning for him to go since they had changed spots.

Matthias did, grabbing a present from Wylan. He looked at it curiously, then opened. It was a large cook book, called ‘Traditional Fjerdan Food in the Kitchen’.

Wylan grinned, shrugging. “Jesper helped me pick it out, because I can’t really tell anything with books, but the idea was mine. I thought that since I’m learning Suli food for Inej, it’d be cool for us to do some Fjerdan foods together,”

Matthias smiled at Wylan, ruffling the boy’s hair like a parent would’ve. “Thanks, Wylan, it’s great. Really looking forward to trying these out with you,”

Wylan beamed.

Inej looked at her pile, and grabbed one from Nina. “From Nina. I’m nervous,”

Nina looked over, abruptly very attentive. “So am I. I wasn’t sure whether to buy it or not…But it was just too good,”

Inej suddenly felt very apprehensive as she slowly ripped away the purple wrapping paper. Dark, dark purple fabric met her, and Inej blinked, pulling it out slowly. She unfolded it, looked at the pockets, the collar, the vivid purple buttons, and started to laugh.

“Nina!” she exclaimed, swatting the girls head. “No way,”

“Yes way,” Nina said, giggling. “C’mon, try it on,”

“What are we looking at?” asked Jesper.

Nina bit her lip. “An Inej-sized waistcoat,”

Jesper’s jaw fell open, Wylan looked at the fabric like it was a unicorn, Matthias started to laugh, and Kaz just looked kinda like ‘ _Why the fudge are these people my friends?_ ’

Inej stood up, passing her hands over the fabric to smoothen it, then slipped it on. It hugged her waist, reached somewhere around her knees, and the sleeves were perfect so that they wouldn’t cover up her hands.

She buttoned it up, then grabbed Kaz’s waistcoat, that was hanging by the entrance. She threw it at him. “Put it on, Dirtyhands. The Wraith just got a new style,”

Kaz did, slowly, staring at Inej. She pulled him up to her feet, and Nina whipped out her phone, taking a million pictures a seconds. “You match! Ah, it’s so perfect. Perfectly adorable. Yay. You like it?”

Kaz glared a bit at Nina, knowing it was a play at them getting matching clothing to look like a couple, but Inej didn’t care. She personally thought it was great. Although she would miss borrowing Kaz’s coat…

“It’s great, Nina,” Inej laughed, bumping Kaz on the side. “Smile, Kaz. We match.”

Kaz turned to her, his glare immediately softening. Inej couldn’t help but smile wider. “It fits you,”

“Well then,” Inej laughed, pulling him back down and curling up next to him. “Guess I’ll be doing this now. Never thought I’d match clothes with my employer. I’m so wearing this to class,”

Kaz groaned, although his hand was on her outer arm, holding her a bit close. “Please don’t. I don’t want to deal with all the taunts,”

“What taunts?” Jesper snorted. “You’re the best well-dressed couple in Ketterdam, and the deadliest too,”

“Couple what now?” Inej said, feeling startled. “Um, **_Jesper_** ,”

“IN FREAKING DENIAL!” he shouted. Kaz threw a wooden ornament from the tree at him. Jesper barely dodged. It would have hit his forehead.

The others just shrugged, although Wylan did flay a little, not wanting his boyfriend to fall over while on his lap.

Kaz sighed, and played a bit with Inej’s hair. Inej snuggled into his side and winked at Nina, who smirked and winked back a little.

“Kaz, go,”

Kaz look at what he had in front of him. “From Inej,”

Inej stared up at him, curios of what his reaction would be. She had to admit, she hadn’t know what the Hell to buy him, despite spending most her time _with_ him. In the end, she’d gotten him a million different little things she’d though he’d like, which is why he had one very big box from her. But the gift in his hand was small, tiny. Inej bit her lip. A bond.

“I am very curious as to what is in there,” Nina leaned in. “Inej wouldn’t tell me,”

 Kaz shrugged, opening it carefully. He slide of the small little box, and opened it, angling it a way so that only he and Inej could see what was inside.

A charm, necklace, band. Diminutive silver bands looped one another to create a simple chain, and on the end of each one, there was half a charm. It was a silver circle, the right side saying ‘ _Partners I_ ’ and the left ‘ **n Crime** ’. Hanging next to each half-circle, there were two feathers, one silver and one black. Inej lifted each charm to show the backside. The right one said ‘ _Inej, Wraith_ ’ and the left ‘ **Kaz, Dirtyhands** ’.

Kaz blinked several times, then looked at her, tilting his head. His dark coffee eyes glinted strangely, and he smiled at her. Inej felt her cheeks warm, and smiled back shyly.

The moment was broken by Nina saying, “I don’t know what the present is, but I do now I’m witnessing an important Kanej even. Someone explain,”

“Nope,” Inej said simply. _Put it on_ , she mouthed.

Kaz looked at her, lifting the right necklace first and putting it around Inej’s neck. She grinned, hiding it from Nina and Jesper and Wylan and Matthias’ prying eyes.

She took Kaz’s half, asking with her eyes if she could put it on him. He shrugged, nodded. Inej leaned in forward a bit, clasping both ends behind his neck. It fell neatly a few inches below his collarbone, and he covered it, settling it under his sweater. The other’s groaned.

“Oh shush,” Inej waggled her finger at them. “You’ll know eventually,”

They all went a few more rounds, which ended with Jesper pinning Wylan to the floor and kissing the boy near unconscious. Inej wasn’t sure what had happened, exactly, but she found that she didn’t really mind. She joined Nina in the fangirling department. Jesper pulled back a little, and Wylan looked up at him, flushed, grinning. Inej took a picture.

Later, Nina finally pounced on Matthias (Inej could just feel the waves of want coming off both of them), claiming she had waited too long to make out with him that morning, despite the fact that he had probably enjoyed her in a sexy Santa outfit the night before. Inej totally didn’t help Nina make it. She admits nothing.

Matthias was a blushing, stuttering mess, which was so adorable Inej clapped lightly, enjoying it greatly. Kaz was just covering his face with a cushion, not wanting to see anything.

Wylan rolled on top of Jesper, whispered something into the sharpshooter’s ear, and suddenly they were off, going down to the basement and claiming that they would be back out in an hour for everything else the group had decided to do (watch a gazillion movies, catch up on Stranger Things, play every game in the house, and basically just spend the day lazing around). Nina and Matthias had followed suit as Nina dragged her red Fjerdan to her room, winking when she noticed it would be leaving Inej and Kaz alone.

Once they were all gone, Inej leaned over to Kaz and kissed his cheek. He gave her a small glance as he picked up the wrapping paper and put it in the trash, settling everyone’s presents into their own corners neatly.

Inej had gone on her phone then, looking through all the pictures she had sneaked. Then Kaz sat next to her, wrapped an arm around her, and kissed her cheek timidly.

When the rest of the crew finally appeared, looking ruffled and pleased, they found Kaz and Inej dying of laughter on the couch as they edited the pictures to look like weird deformed versions of the original. It was a good Christmas.

 

**I’m just gonna wrap up with a list of extra presents I didn’t write in. I could make it longer, but I don’t feel like it. (~) is who they got it _from_.**

**Jesper Got- New real guns, books of silly exercises, coupon to the zoo (Matthias), a new sowing set, new tablet, gold wrist bangles (Inej), 3 new puzzles, ammo, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Kaz), 4 hilarious shirts about bisexuality, set of fruit flavored chapstick (Nina), a kit to your own fireworks, a harmonica, gold earrings, lots of kisses, little guns keychain (Wylan)**

**Wylan Got- Coupons of things he can ask for, a new flute music book, new headphones, lots of kisses (Jesper), new fancy calculator, 3 coloring books, poster of the night sky/constellations (Inej), tons of new wool sweaters and long sleeves (Nina), a coupon book of sweets for a shop he likes, 2 audio cook books (Matthias), set of brushes, small electric piano, new satchel (Kaz)**

**Matthias Got- Lots of kisses, new sweaters, new personalized Ketterdam Football jacket, a slip allowing him to volunteers at dog shelters (Nina), Madden 18, a rifle, wolf keychain, (Kaz), gray beanie w/ wolf ears, necklace of Djel tree, book on wolves (Jesper), new iPod, new pair of snow boots, new ear buds, new apron (Inej), sweater that says ‘You’re All Horrible’, new football, hair ties for his hair, framed pictures of Matthias playing football, CD with Fjerdan bands (Wylan)**

**Nina Got- New make-up kit, discount on all concerts at Ketterdam’s Utopia Amusement Park (Wylan), new shoes that don’t pinch at the toes, lots of kisses, coupons on food, all food, every food (Matthias), 101 different recipes for waffles book, bunch of cute skirts/shirts, new phone case (Inej), different books on human anatomy, high quality Tailor kit, shirts with waffles drawings on them (Kaz), flashy shoes, sparkly red sweater, big sun hat for summer, book on special makeup (Jesper)**

**Inej Got- Greatest Acrobats Ever book, 3 new fancy notebooks, new set for cleaning knives, box of chocolates, a few kisses on the cheek (Kaz), silver bangles, new dance shoes, purple fingerless gloves, black beanie w/ cat ears (Jesper), new shirts and leggings, new hood, friendship bracelet, Suli hymns, hugs like nobody’s business (Nina), small silver stud earrings, different teas with cinnamon, small posters of different saints, framed pictures of Inej dancing (Wylan), cute romance novels (shh, they were given in secret), clips for her hair, new thin hoodie, new phone case (Matthias)**

**Kaz Got- New hat, new notebook, new phone case, book of tricks, new flash drive, new laptop covering, tons of small puzzles, dark gray and black buttons ups, lots of kisses on the cheek (Inej), 20 Ways To Dupe a Person book, riddle books, crow car sticker (Nina), a _pair of jeans *gasp*_ , new gun, coupon for one free entrance to every museum in Ketterdam, book on decency (Matthias), crow stuffed animal, crow keychain, Darksiders video game, book called The Dark Inside + other morbid books (Jesper), CDs of a ton of assorted music, horror video games, puzzle games, like a gazillion horded coupons of everything under the sun, framed pictures of the group + stuff that looked Kaz-like (Wylan)**

 

**_ So many coupons. I have a head cannon for you all: They are all cheap, despite buying expensive presents for each other.  _ **


	11. New Year's Performance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inej is preparing for her solo. She and Wylan are babied by the crew, and she and Kaz go out to eat because she needs to get out. Flashback to the early days. Performance, a New Year’s outing, and fireworks. Little Kanej surprise at the end. SUPER LONG.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is somewhat edited, super long. Originally, this was around 10,000 words, and then I lost it, so I spent three days rewriting the damn thing, and it turned into like 12,000 words, IDK.   
> PLEASE COMMENT  
> Sorry for this being so late...

**Inej**

Inej spun faster and faster, the world blurring around her and her braid curling around her as she maintained her balance on the tip of her toes. The music suddenly dropped, and Inej did as well, stopping her movements completely. She held the pose for a few moments, and Miss Lucy clapped.

“That was brilliant, Inej!” Miss Lucy smiled. Inej got up onto her feet, slightly dazed. “I know you’re just going to rock the performance in a few weeks.

Inej smiled at the praise. “Thank you, Miss Lucy. I hope I do well,”

“I’m sure you will,” Miss Lucy said. “You’re one of the best dancers I’ve ever met. Its part of you, I really do think so. You are a star,”

Inej tried to be humble. “I just practice a lot,”

“You are being careful about what I said, right?” Miss Lucy asked. “No one has seen you practice? I know the Zemeni boy hasn’t been coming to watch you, but you haven’t been caught at home, right?”

“I’ve been careful, and so has Wylan,” Inej confirmed. They weren’t allowed to practice in front of others anymore, keeping the soloists, which were Inej, and two boys, a Will Herondale and Jace Herondale, hidden from other eyes. Inej got along with the two of them well enough, but it was weird. They seemed to be the same age, but there was talk about Will being some weird ancestor. Honestly, Inej couldn’t wrap her mind around them. They also seemed to hate ducks.

The normal groups weren’t allowed to dance outside the rehearsal rooms either. The final touches of the dances everyone had been working on with their groups were to be kept absolutely hush hush.

Miss Lucy grinned and nodded approvingly. “Keep it up, Inej. Don’t let yourself be seen, keep Wylan going as well. You two are great. Go practice with the rest of the group, okay? I have to handle the Heaps,”

She gestured at a group of blond boys with green eyes, and a black haired girl with purple eyes, who were all halfheartedly dancing, mostly talking. Miss Lucy sighed. “They are a handful,”

“You’re married to one of them,” Inej pointed out.

“My statement still stands. Good luck, Inej,” Miss Lucy said, waving bye and going to help the Heaps out.

Inej shrugged and went to her group. Kat and Hale were arguing on a phone with someone called ‘Gabs’ about climbing gear and seduction. It was actually sort of common, but still weird. Hearthstone was sitting and texting someone, smiling occasionally and taking pictures of different people's outfits for some reason. Alex, who was female at the moment, was flirting with a flustered blond boy. Inej was pretty sure that he was Professor Chase’s cousin or something; they had the same last name. He was called Magnus Chase. Alex was flustering him to the ends of the world. Penelope was reading, sitting on the floor, as Baz and Simon traded cards as they sat next to each other, quizzing each other on some weird vocabulary while managing to make quips and flirt with each other at the same time. Wylan was the only one practicing, although he looked a bit bored.

He perked up when he saw Inej approach. “Hey, Inej! You looked amazing! Your dance is so cool. Very striking,”

Inej grinned, a bit too self-satisfied that Wylan liked her dancing so much. “Thanks. Miss Lucy is very enthusiastic about everything. She wants us to practice as a group now though,”

Wylan sighed happily. “Thank goodness you’re practicing with us. It feels like we all fall out a bit when you aren’t with us,”

Inej surveyed the people around them. “A bit?” she asked, lips quirking.

“Okay, a lot,”

Inej clapped her hands, the sound jarring everyone from what they were doing, except Hearth, who was deaf. Inej nudged his leg with her foot, and he looked up. She made sure not to slur her words so that he could read her lips. “Okay! Time for us to practice as a group! We’re running through the whole thing, get in place please.”

Immediately, the flirting, the texting, the reading, the arguing, the studying/flirting/arguing, stopped. Everyone looked up at her expectantly, Alex pushing away Magnus and muttering something about talking to him in a bit. “Really?”

“Really,”

Everyone hopped into motion, phones pocketed, books closed, cards put away carefully, and Inej pressed the button on their stereo, getting into place quickly as everyone else did. The music went on, and suddenly they were a machine, smooth, fluid, together and professional. Inej loved the connectedness she felt with them. Dance by herself was fun. Dance with others was exhilarating.

 

* * *

 

“Ouch! Nina do you—“

“Yes, Inej. Don’t tilt your head. Stay still,” Nina commanded as she pulled on another strand of her hair, weaving the strands into tight braids and pinning them up into her hair. “I have to get this hairstyle pretty and perfect in the next two weeks. I have to make sure to practice,”

“I could braid the other pieces—“

“No, you can’t. Rest. Watch the TV. And stop tilting your head around. Do you want some water?”

Inej rolled her eyes and huffed, waiting for the torture to be over.

 

* * *

 

 

“Jesper, we can carry all our stuff ourselves,” Inej said, trying to take her stuff from him.

Jesper was carrying all of their stuff for dance. He still drove Wylan and Inej, even if he wasn’t allowed to watch. They were on Winter Break, but the Dance Club continued to toil away, forming perfection.

Jesper swatted her hand away jokingly. “Nah, I’ll carry it,”

Wylan tried to stop him. “Seriously, Jesper, it’s not necessary. We can hold our own stuff,”

“No, you can’t,”

“But—”

“No buts. Now run along, don’t tire yourselves out. Inej, want me to carry your coat?”

  

* * *

 

“Oh no you don’t,” Matthias said, snatching a cookie from Wylan’s hand. “You can’t be having sugar right before bed time. You have to finish eating your salad too.”

Wylan pouted, and Inej sympathized. Matthias had taken away her chocolate earlier. “But it’s just one cookie,”

“I know you sneaked a cupcake earlier, Wylan. I don’t want you to stay up all night. Eat your veggies, treat your body right. You have a performance coming up.”

“But Matthias—” Inej tried.

“Eat your vegetables,”

“Yes mom,”

 

* * *

 

“I’m _so_ bored,” Inej complained, thanking the Saints for the fact that everyone was busy so that she could lay her head on Kaz’s lap.

Kaz looked down at her from his phone screen. “I figured that out myself. You built a structure out of toothpicks. I’m pretty sure it’s the Slat,”

Inej beamed at him. “You got it! Jesper couldn’t tell. Do you have anything for me to do?”

Kaz adverted his eyes. His free hand resting on her stomach, and Inej could feel it’s coolness through her shirt. “You shouldn’t be thinking about that. You need to be resting—”

“You have something, don’t you?” Inej sat up, almost head-butting him.

“Maybe,”

Inej grinned wider.

“Okay, yes. Small job. You really shouldn’t—”

Inej grabbed his hand, pulling him up. “C’mon, let’s go,”

 

* * *

 

 

Inej twirled lazily as she waited for Kaz to catch up. They were breaking into someone’s apartment, and Kaz had fallen back a few roof tops as Inej dashed over them and he’d struggled to keep up. Finally, she was out of the house without someone trying to baby her. She flipped off a chimney as Kaz arrived. He raised an eyebrow as she hand-walked around him, trying to expel all her stored-up energy.

“Here’s the place,” Kaz said, opening a window on the side of the apartment building. He and Inej went through it, careful not to fall.

The apartment was dirty and unkempt, but Inej didn’t mind. “Take pictures of anything suspicious, right?”

“Any IDs, pictures, documents, notes, whatever. I’ll go look through the guy's computer.”

Inej went through the house, taking pictures on her phone of what he had asked her to. The guy they were looking at had several, almost 20, different identities, and he used them to lie and swindle people out of their money. Like Kaz, but way dumber. And way less attractive, if some of the ID pictures were anything to go by.

_Damn it, Kaz was hot._

Inej blushed to herself at the thought. It’s not like it was untrue…

She sighed a little bit and went to find said 100 degrees.

She found him in the messy living room of the apartment. “Done?”

“Moment,” Kaz said. He downloaded whatever he had found onto a hard drive, then shut the computer. “Now done. Told you it was a small job,”

“I don’t mind. I just wanted to get out of the house. Thanks, Kaz,” Inej smiled at him.

Kaz averted his eyes. “No problem. Do you want to do something?”

“Like what?”

“Food?”

Inej nodded eagerly. It had been a long time since she had eaten alone with Kaz, and she missed it when it was just the two of them. They had made a sort of unspoken agreement that they would go around to all the different places Inej had never been at so she could learn about new foods after the first few times they had eaten together.

“Sure!” 

 

* * *

 

 

“Remember this?” Kaz asked as they looked at the small diner, which had a garage next to it. It was modest, and held many memories for her. It was the first place she ever ate food at after being freed from the Menagerie, the place they went to the first time they ate without a group. They had frequented the diner many times in between, after, and before jobs, and they also ate there after they pulled of their first big job, Kaz trying to 1. Console her for the fact that she committed a huge crime, and 2. Congratulate her on the fact she just committed a huge crime. They had spent some many hours there. Inej was pretty sure their booth still had some blood on it.

“Yeah,” Inej said as they walked in.

A pretty girl a few years older than them with light auburn hair greeted them. “Kaz! Inej! I haven’t seen you guys in ages,”

“Hey, Calypso,” Inej greeted her warmly.

“Hi,” Kaz said. “Has the place survived without us?”

Calypso gave a snort. “We’ve done well enough. How have you been?”

“Good,” Inej said. “Busy.”

“Isn’t everyone always busy around here?” Calypso said. “Gang business takes up a lot of everything,”

“True,”

A short Latino guy popped out of nowhere, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend. “Hey, it’s my two favorite birds! Stabby, Stealy, I haven’t seen you guys in a while,”

“Hey Leo,” Kaz said, raising an eyebrow at Leo Valdez’s half-burned shirt.

“Hello, Leo. I see you’re still only an inch taller than me,” Inej teased.

Leo straightened himself. “Inch and _a half_ , Stabs.”

Inej rolled her eyes. “How’s clientele?”

Callie groaned. “It’s basically all the Half-Bloods. I swear, they can’t go by a day without stopping by and giving us their well-wishes. But all they ever do is order sides because they don’t have enough time for a full meal,”

“Hey,” Leo pointed out. “The Seven, and Nico and Reyna, and Grover and Rachel, Apollo and that little feisty one, Meg, come by pretty often, and they eat plenty,”

“Don’t forget the Hunters of Artemis,” Calypso said. “Thalia Grace and all,”

“It’s Grisha paradise,” Leo said.

“I’ll take that as a ‘Plenty of people’,” Kaz smiled a little. He enjoyed Leo’s antics, Inej knew. “And the shows?”

Calypso groaned, but Leo perked up. “Oh, they’ve been doing pretty well. Festus is even getting featured now!”

Festus was Leo’s crazy, deadly, mechanical bronze mechanical dragon that was awesome, and terrifying. Inej shuddered at the thought.

Kaz steered them toward the booth, and the couple followed them to chat a bit longer, since there weren’t any other people in the diner at the moment. “How many people have been eaten and/or burned so far?” Kaz asked.

“Like two?”

Callie coughed.

“Okay,” Leo amended. “Eight. But they started it!”

“Sure,” Kaz smirked. “Someone picked a fight with a large mechanical dragon,”

“Oh, whatever Steals. Are you having the usual?” Leo asked as Calypso went to sever some people who’d just come in, Grover Underwood and Rachel Elizabeth Dare. The couple hadn’t been kidding…

“Yeah, usual, along with the drink,”

“Okie dokie. And you, Stabs?”

“Usual as well, Leo. And don’t hurt yourself in the kitchen this time please. I don’t have any gauze on me,”

“Yes ma’am!”

 

* * *

 

 

“Mmm, so gooood,” Inej said, taking a bite from her tamales. Leo was technically known for his tacos, but Inej had fallen in love with the tamales after her first time trying them at the diner. They were just delicious.

Kaz watched her, amused as he sipped his guava juice.

“Want some?” Inej asked.

“Sure,”

Inej speared some of her tamale onto her fork and offered it to Kaz. He rolled his eyes at her feeding him, but opened his mouth and obliged anyway. He nodded. Not too spicy then.

“Soup?” he asked her.

“Sure,” Inej said, copying his earlier reply.

Kaz smirked a little as he fed her a spoon of his soup, which he always had. Inej didn’t even know why. It was good. “Peppah!”

‘You’re weird with the whole pepper thing,” Kaz said. “It’s not even that much,”

“Pepper is good, Kaz. Stop being a heathen,”

“Uhuh,”

Kaz took her melon juice, and she took his. Inej had to mentally laugh at all of this. She could very clearly remember the first time they had shared food. Well, technically she’d stolen it from him. It had been right after a job, not at the diner because it had been closed. Actually, it had been at a fast food place. Matthias hadn’t been part of their lives yet.

She found herself sinking into the pleasant memory she had to admit she held close.

 

*Flashback* *Sparkles*

 

_“This way, Wraith,” Kaz said as he turned the corner at the end of the street. Inej struggled to keep up with his long gait. It was Summer, and the heat wasn’t bothering his leg, and he didn’t even have his cane, although that was for a different reason._

_It was almost surreal when they stopped in front of a Burger King. Inej had never eaten in one before, just looked at them as she passed down the street. It didn’t help that she and Kaz were dressed as common teenagers for once either. Instead of his usual waistcoat, Kaz was wearing a black hoodie and dark blue jeans, and Inej mirrored him, her jeans light gray and hoodie that was a bit big on her. They had had to go to a college party, which had been uncomfortable for the both of them; Inej could tell, and knock out and kidnapped a bunch of kids with really rich parents to get a ransom for. Inej had bothered Kaz for days on end until he finally promised not to kill the kids, although he said it would have been easier._

_He still treated her rather coldly back then. She’d only been working in the Dregs for 8 months, a novice really. He ignored her anger, her tears, her reluctance, her concern. He liked to rile her up until she couldn’t tell who she hated more, him or herself. But still she found that she spent most her time around Kaz Brekker, and she knew he could stand her way more than most people. They had a shaky alliance made over mutual toleration. Dirtyhands and the Wraith._

_After they had kidnapped the kids, it was around 3 am. Both one of them had last eaten a small midday meal and they didn’t feel like taking the light rail or walking across town with empty stomachs. And so, he had led them to this tiny BG._

_“Come on,” Kaz said, stepping inside. Inej followed him in quickly._

_Inside, a girl with dirty blond/brown hair as lazily tapping her phone while a boy dressed in all black watched over her should, occasionally chuckling as the girl grumbled in frustration. They looked up as the bell by the door rang._

_“Hey, Maximum, Fang,” Kaz greeted them._

_The girl, Inej assumed her name was Maximum, turned off her phone. “Goddamn Flappy Bird. Hi, Kaz,”_

_Fang nodded at Kaz. “Hey, Brekker,”_

_“You getting the usual?” Maximum asked._

_“Yeah. Whopper meal, Sprite. Inej?”_

_What the Hell’s a Whopper? Inej didn’t know the word. Fang called the order to the back to someone named Nudge._

_Maximum blinked several times. “Wait, she’s with you? I thought you guys just came in at the same time. This is the first time you’ve ever eaten with anyone else here.”_

_Maximum gave Inej a once over, wary, and Inej found that she immediately liked her. She didn’t know why, but her skepticism made Inej feel a bit more in place. Her face was practically motherly concern, although for whom, she didn't know. “Hi. I’m Maximum, call me Max. He’s Fang. You?”_

_“Inej,” Inej replied. “Nice to meet you,”_

_“Wraith,” Kaz said. “She’s the Wraith,”_

_Max blinked several times. “Wait, wait, you’re that girl people have been talking about? Wow. Impressive. You practically do what Fang does times ten,”_

_Fang rolled his eyes._

_“Yeah…” Inej said, a bit unsure._

_Max shrugged. “We’re good as long as you don’t do anything funny to me, or to the Flock,”_

_“Your gang?”_

_“And family,”_

_Inej nodded slowly. She would respect this girl, she decided._

_“How is the Flock?” Kaz asked. Inej was surprised. She’d never heard him ask about people’s wellbeing. The closest thing she’d ever heard from him was ‘and the money?’_

_Fang shrugged. “Whoever knows? Taking it day by day for now. Trying to survive,”_

_Max looked at Inej. “So what are you ordering?”_

_Inej looked at the menu, trying to make sense of it. She still had some trouble reading Kerch, although Kaz had lent her many books to learn it. She’d also never seen a fast food restaurant menu, so she was completely lost. “I don’t know what any of those things mean… What can I have?”_

_Max blinked. “Anything you want, as long as you pay. Do you like hamburgers?”_

_“Well, yes. I’ve had them a few times. Three, maybe,”_

_Fang and Max shared incredulous looks. Kaz sighed._

_“Do you like bacon?” Kaz asked Inej._

_“Well, yes, it’s pretty good,” she said, puzzled by the question._

_“She’ll have a bacon Whopper,”_

_“What’s a Whopper?” Inej asked._

_Kaz glanced at her. His lips quirked the tiniest bit and Inej held herself back from huffing. “What soda do you want?”_

_“I don’t really drink soda. I don’t know them—"_

_“Coke, Sprite, Pepsi, Mtn. Dew, Dr. Pepper, Fanta, Root beer,”_

_“Dr. Pepper, whatever that is?” Inej said. She liked pepper. She didn’t know how that would work with a soda though._

_“There you have it,” Kaz told Max. “Bacon Whooper meal, Dr. Pepper for a drink,”_

_“What’s a Whopper?”_

_Kaz didn’t answer her._

_Inej grumbled, looking at the menu as Fang called in her order. “What’s that?” she pointed._

_“What’s what?” Max asked._

_“Well, I know the words ‘milk’ and ‘shake’ but I don’t know the word ‘milkshake’. What is it?” Sometimes Inej felt annoyed. She mostly knew words about crime, pleasure, and punishment. It was odd to feel fluent in a language until some odd word or phrase just seemed to fall from nowhere, alien. Inej found herself trying to match Suli terms to Kerch words a lot. She often failed.  
            Damn Kaz. He was definitely smirking now._

_Fang shrugged. “You know ice cream?”_

_“Yes,”_

_“It’s basically drinkable ice cream,”_

_Inej bit her lip, looking at the picture. Drinkable ice cream? When was the last time she even_ had _ice cream?_

_Max chuckled at her expression. “You want it?”_

_Inej turned to Kaz. “Can I?”_

_He shrugged. “Get what you want,”_

_“Can you get one too?”_

_“Why would I?”_

_Inej didn’t want to admit it was because she felt like it would be unfair otherwise. She knew very well that she was an investment, that Kaz would leave her at the drop of a hat if she messed up, but still, he was giving her food. And after that wretched party, he deserved some drinkable ice cream too._

_“To be fair?” It almost sounded like a question._

_“Fair. Right.” Kaz rolled his eyes._

_“I’m being serious, Kaz,”_

_“That’s the worst part,” He said._

_Inej rolled her eyes. “Just do it,”_

_“Can I get a different dessert, or must I stick strictly to the mysterious and unknown milkshake?” Kaz asked._

_He was being rude, but Inej wasn’t too insulted. She was too surprised he agreed. She actually would have preferred for him to get a milkshake, but… “Get what you want,” she said, copying his earlier tone, her mouth set into a haughty smirk._

_Kaz raised an eyebrow at her, then shrugged and said, “Cinnamon roll. And just get her a chocolate shake; I don't want to explain the others,”_

_Fang called back the desserts. Inej wondered over what the Hell 'mint chocolate chip milkshake' was._

_Max grinned. “That is one of the slowest orders I have ever taken, but it was probably the most entertaining as well. Free feel to sit down. Fang, call up the back to check that Nudge hasn’t burned anything because she went on her phone. And check that Angel and the Gasman are doing their homework. And that Iggy hasn’t blown up anything.”_

_Oookay, not going to question that._

_Inej and Kaz went to sit at a table. The only other people around were three kids a bit younger than Inej, a girl with crazy light brown hair and two boys, one with ginger hair and the other with black hair. They looked tired, but were still raising their noses haughtily, saying “Potter” in a snobbish tone, then collapsing into giggles. Otherwise, the place was deserted._

_“What’s a Whopper?” Inej asked again._

_“You’re not going to give up on that, are you?” Kaz said._

_“Nope,”_

_“A Whopper,” Kaz sighed, making his raspy voice sound condescending and teacher-like. “It’s Burger Kings trademark hamburger. I don’t know why it’s called a Whopper. Maybe because it’s big. Anyway, they have normal, which is what I got, bacon, what you’re getting, and things like double patty and what not,”_

_“Oh... Whopper. Whopper.” Inej’s nose crinkled. “What an odd word. I wonder if that Urban Dictionary thing has it.”_

_Kaz looked slightly disturbed, which was a rarity. It took a lot to make Dirtyhands looks disturbed. “Why do you know what that is?”_

_Inej took out her phone. “That new Zemeni boy, Jesper, the sharpshooter, told me about it. He explained that it had a lot of common slang terms. He... downloaded... uploaded... installed... you Kerch have too many words for everything. Anyway, he put it on the phone you bought me. I haven’t actually looked—”_

_All of a sudden, her phone wasn’t even in her hand anymore, but had somehow appeared in Kaz’s. He didn’t even take a second on her password, bypassing it all together some-freaking-how, and had already gotten to the Urban Dictionary app. He uninstalled it. “Yeah, no. There are some things people, or you, aren’t meant to see, and some of the definitions on this app are those things.”_

_Inej blinked several times, shaking her head. “Why’d you do that for?”_

_“Inej, trust might be scarce in the Barrel, but trust me when I say that you don’t want to see the things on this app,”_

_“It’s only a dictionary—”_

_“Oh look, our food,”_

_Kaz stood up and went to grab their trays and drinks. Inej was impressed. Sure, it was called ‘fast food’, but that was much quicker than she would have ever expected. How’d they do it?_

_Kaz put their trays on the table, and all thoughts on quickness and dictionaries left Inej’s mind. “Fries!”_

_Kaz sat back down, handing Inej her fries, drink, and bacon._

_Inej looked at the Dr. Pepper suspiciously._

_“Try it,” Kaz urged._

_She put her straw in the cup. This was maybe her third time having a carbonated drink. She took a sip._

_She pulled back, startled. “It’s so explosive! Tiny explosions! Hic. And very sweet. Hic. I think — hic — that it gave me — hic — what do you call these ‘ouch’ things? Hic.”_

_Kaz’s lips rose into a crooked smile. “I think you mean to say ‘hiccups’. And by tiny explosions, I think you mean bubbly.”_

_“Hic. Yes. Sounds right. Hic.”_

_“Try the Whopper,” Kaz said._

_Inej nodded, grabbing the burger and taking a bite. Kaz actually laughed at her expression, which was so odd she almost dropped her food in surprise._

_Inej schooled her face into a more normal ‘wow’ instead of the expression she suspected made her look liked a child seeing a unicorn._

_It was an odd night, because both of them were being so much more casual, and honestly, it was making Inej feel a bit childish, but part of her had to admit she like the camaraderie._

_“It’s good! And it has bacon!”_

_Kaz took a bite from his own food. “You sound like a child,”_

_Inej glared at him half-heartedly. Kaz gave her no mind, and took a sip from his Sprite._

_“Save the desserts for last,” he told her._

_“Mmkay. Thank the Saints. Thank you, Kaz,”_

_He blinked slowly, not having expected any form of gratitude from her. He almost looked wary of it._

_She ate her food extremely fast. She was starving. They ate in silence._

_She did not like that she sounded childish. Especially around Kaz Brekker. She’d learned a lot of reserved and well-spoken Kerch from him, because while being street savvy, he like sounding like the Kerch business man. Like him, she preferred to put up a more refined look and voice. It annoyed her though, because whenever she found something new and surprising, something she actually liked, or whenever she had to scramble for silly words to try and explain what she actually meant, she sounded like a little kid. She rarely did it around the other members, choosing silence before embarrassment, but she found herself slipping in front of Kaz, liked he slipped in front of her with his small, rare smiles._

_She hoped she masters Kerch soon. She was done sounding five years old._

_When they finished eating, they sat quietly for some time, not talking; not eating the desserts._

_Kaz stood to throw away their food, and Inej waited for him to sit before deciding to try the drinkable ice cream._

_He sat back down, and watched her as she took her first sip._

_Inej stared at it. “The Saints are blessing me with this,”_

_“Pretty sure it’s my money, but okay,”_

_Inej rolled her eyes, but found she couldn’t hide a smile. “Thanks. Again,” she grinned at him._

_Kaz looked startled, and Inej suddenly felt self-conscious. She looked down a bit, but she was still smiling. “You should eat your roll,”_

_Kaz did (It was huge, bigger than what the menu described. She wondered if he’d gotten them to make it that way for him), although he kept glancing at her warily. She wondered what she had done._

_He was watching her with his scheming face. She told him so. “Scheming face, Kaz,”_

_“I don’t have a scheming face,”_

_“Yes you do. Jesper pointed out to me a while ago. You tilt your head to the side, squint your eyes, and get this…uh… faraway look,”_

_“I do not,”_

_“Yes you do,” Inej said, then proceeded to copy Kaz’s scheming face. It was easy enough. She saw it so much, she knew it by heart. She did not like to think she knew anything about this broken boy by heart, but she did. “You look like this,”_

_“No I don’t,”_

_“Watch. Next time you get a crime thought or get a perfect plan, just pause and think about your pose. Or I’ll tell you,” she told him._

_“I don’t have a scheming face,”_

_She shrugged. “You do,”_

_They continued to eat, Inej savoring her chocolate milkshake._

_After a bit, she looked back up. “Do you want some?”_

_“Not rea—”  
            “Have some drinkable ice cream, Kaz,” Inej said._

_“I don’t have a straw,”_

_Inej shrugged. “I don’t see the problem. Just use mine,”_

_She didn’t realize until much later why his jaw ticked, why he looked at her like she was a bit kooky._

_He did have some though._

_Inej smiled a little and snatched his cinnamon roll. “Fair’s fair.” She took a bite._

_Kaz rolled his eyes, but his lips were quirking all the same._

_“This is great! How could you not have offered this? When the Suli find something good, they share it!” Inej said, staring at the cinnamon roll._

_“I’m not Suli,”_

_“Be quiet,” she said. “It’s so warm and cinnamon-y and has frosting and is… is…”_

_Kaz waited as she struggled._

_Inej squeezed her cheeks, feeling like a chipmunk. “What’s it called when you do this? Like, how the my cheeks are supposed to feel?”_

_“What?”_

_Inej made an annoyed sound. “Like, soft… stretchy…teddy bear? Uh… no… Ugh,”_

_Kaz blinked slowly as if trying to follow her wrecked train of thought. “You mean ‘squish’?”_

_The word sounded oddly cute, which made it weird from Kaz. “Squish?”_

_“Like, ‘she’s squishing her cheeks’ or ‘squish her cheeks’ or ‘squished her cheeks’. ‘Her cheeks are squishy’.” Kaz made a face. “That is undoubtedly one of the weirdest things I’ve ever explained.”_

_“Sure. Anyway, yeah, squish sounds right,”_

_Inej stopped squishing her cheeks. “Anyway, it’s warm and cinnamon-y and has frosting and is squishy. It’s really, really good,”_

_Kaz nodded. “Alright then. Next time though, you could just ask instead of stealing,”_

_“You do realize what you just said, right?”_

_“I do. It feels wrong. Let’s go and finish eating these on the way back so I can pickpocket some people and set myself to rights,”_

_“That’s not how it works, Kaz,”_

_They left, bidding a goodbye to Max and Fang. Fang was holding his arms out wide, saying “This much!” and Max was trying to ignore him, blushing. They stopped whatever they were doing and said goodbye._

_They continued to share the cinnamon roll and shake all the way back to the Slat, finishing them before entering. It wasn’t until the next day, when Jesper asked Inej where they had been and she told him what had happened that she really realized the oddness._

_“I’m pretty sure business partners don’t share food. That sounds more like a couple thing,” Jesper said, but he wasn’t teasing, just looking very weirded out._

_Oh no no no no no no, Inej had thought. It sounded like a freaking date._

*Flashback End* *Crowd Dies In Disappointment*

 

Kaz cleared his throat, causing Inej to come back to the present. “What?”

He looked awkward. “I was asking when the performance was,”

Inej knew he knew, who knew she knew he knew, when the performance was, but what else was there to make conversation about? The fact that their legs were touching under the table? The fact that they had walked to the diner hand in hand? The kisses she’d pressed against his cheek since Christmas?

“It was supposed to be on the 30th, but now it’s New Year’s Eve,” Inej told him. “Don’t know why though, just had some complications or something,”

“Mm. Will we have enough times for the fireworks?”

“Of course!” Inej said indignantly.

Kaz grinned at her, and Inej felt herself blush. She’d long gotten over her _seriously, I’m blushing over_ him _!?_ and _I cannot be feeling anything for the Bastard of the Barrel, it’s foolish_ or _I am not to be attracted to him at all. Stop staring at his chest_ phase. (Damn Kaz in the moments he has taken his shirt off in front of her. She can’t touch him, and he goes and does that. Unfair.) It did not help to be in denial. Yet she still felt a bit foolish blushing over Kaz. It made her feel like a teenage girl, when she would go in trips with her parents and attract the attention of some boy from the crowd, all before the Menagerie. But Kaz felt more intense than that, which didn’t help.

Inej banged her head on the table. “Damn you, 100 degrees,”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing,” Inej said. “You done eating?”

“Few more minutes,”

They finished their meals in silence, paying their check, and went on their way, almost knocking into Nico di Angelo and Reyna Ramirez-Arellano as they exited.

“What do you want to do now?”

Inej looked at Kaz, startled. “We’re not going home?”

Kaz shrugged. “Not unless you want to,”

Inej took his hand, which she was pretty sure had been gloved when he grabbed the door to exit the restaurant, and was now bare. Kaz intertwined their fingers, and Inej smiled when he didn’t even shudder, although his arm was still tense. “Let’s just walk around,”

They did, heading towards the area of Ketterdam where they were known considerably less. Kaz still had his cane, and his limp was more pronounced than she would have liked. Still, they walked. People parted for them, yet very few recognized Dirtyhands and his Wraith, seeing only canal rats.

Dogs popped out of nowhere, coming up to Kaz, sniffing his legs. He sometimes stopped and obliged to scratch them behind the ears. Cats slinked out of crooks and crannies, winding themselves against Inej’s legs and purring. They had their own, moving, petting zoo.

At one point, they got close to a group of performing acrobats who were doing the wire between two buildings. They were good, but Inej didn’t see any Suli among them. She was glad. That would hurt.

The leader of the acrobats turned to the crowd. “We’ll be setting up a next under the wire for anyone who wants to give it a try! Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe.”

The acrobats put out a net, then proceeded to fall from the wire and prove everything would be alright. A trickled of people came from the crowd, each trying and failing, falling through the air into the net.

Suddenly, Inej stepped forward, letting go of Kaz’s hand. “I want to try!”

She got up on-stage, and the performers gave her quick tips she already knew. Inej nodded along, then said, “I want to do it without the net,”

They looked at her like if she was crazy. “We can’t do that. You might get hurt. It could even kill you,”

“I’ll be fine,” Inej insisted.

The lead acrobat shook his head. “No. You could die, and we would get the blame for it too,”

“I have the means of paying for any injuries, or for giving you money for the case. And the whole crowd can hear me right now. I have a friend in the crowd too, they are seeing this. The witnesses will account that I insisted,”

The lead acrobat didn’t seem convinced, but Kerch was Kerch, and if they were given money….. Who cares?

“What‘s your name?”

“Inej,”

The lead acrobat turned to the crowd. “Hear this! This little lady, Inej, says that she will not only walk the wire, but that she will do it _without the net!_ We applaud her bravery!”

The acrobats clapped, as did the crowd, but nervous glances were shared on both sides.

Inej climbed up the ladder to the wire, ignoring the balance pole the other acrobats tried to give her. She looked over the wire, making sure it was safe, and took off her shoes, throwing them onto the stage. She walked onto the wire.

Immediately, it felt as if her senses heightened, as if the world took on a new dimension. She could feel the wire; understand how it would bend under her weight. She could feel her wings.

She stepped forward, and once she got to the middle, she flipped onto her hands. The crowd gasped. Inej walked forward and backward, flipped back to normal then did a cartwheel. Then she balanced on a single foot, her other leg raised and her arms above her head in a classic ballerina pose. She finished the last few feet, a smile breaking over her features as she did a showman’s bow on top of the other building. She slid down the ladder, grabbing her shoes. The crowd and acrobats burst into awed applause.

The leading acrobat came over to her. “That was amazing! Are you perhaps from the Suli caravans, an acrobat?”     

Inej felt her smile ice over a little. “Was,”

“Would you please consider joining our act? You would add so much!”

Inej shook her head. She could hear the snowflake sadness in her voice. “I do not think I’ll ever be joining the caravans again,”

She turned and hurried over to Kaz, who was waiting for her on the outskirts of the crowd. She was holding her hand out before she’d even reached him. He clasped it in his own.

“C’mon,” she told him, as they headed away from the performance.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you walk the wire,”

“Really?” Inej said, surprised.

He nodded. “Nina’s seen you, and I don’t know about the rest, but that’s the only time I’ve ever seen you on an actual wire. You look like them, the performers, you know. You hold your chin up. You did the thing with your shoulders, squaring them.” Then he grinned. “The bow was a nice touch,”

“Why, thank you,” she told him, smiling. “What did you think of it? My walking.”

“Impressive,”

She raised her eyebrows, nudging his shoulder with her own.

“Okay, fine. It looked impossible, and I don’t have any idea how you actually did it,” Kaz said, tone flat but eyes amused.

“Better,”

“By the way, don’t tell the others I let you do that. Or that I let you do a job. Or even that I took you out of the house. They’ll flay me,”

“1. You didn’t _let_ me walk the wire; I decided to do that on my own. 2. Okay, but it was _only_ a breaking and entering and some snooping around. 3. Thanks again,” she kissed his cheek. “And 4. Don’t worry, I’ll come and save you if they try to lay a hand on you,”

“I don’t need saving,”

_Yes you do._

“Oh, whatever, Kaz.”

As they walked, she moved closer, laying her head on his shoulder. He didn’t push her away.

 

* * *

 

 

Inej and Wylan clasped each other, jumping up and down repeatedly as Miss Lucy headed outside to introduce the performance to the watchers. “Oh Ghezen, oh Saints, oh god, oh every deity out there, oh no oh no oh no oh no,”

“I can’t believe my first dance is a New Year’s one!” Wylan said.

“I know! I’m so excited for you! And so nervous for us!” Inej stepped back, giving him a once over. He was wearing dark gray pants and a fitted green shirt. “You look good,”

“So do you,” he told her. Inej was wearing a silver/white dress, as were Kat and Penelope, who were off somewhere. The boys were lucky. Many of them were simply wearing dark gray pants and green or red shirts. But the dress wasn’t horrible. It had a cute heart neckline and transparent/see through/whitish sleeves that didn’t even reach the end of her shoulders. The skirt was flowy and just reached her knees. Inej was wearing tights of her skin color, nervous of showing so much skin. Even if they didn’t seem to be there to anyone else, she took comfort in knowing people weren’t viewing her actual skin. “You okay?”

Inej nodded. “Yeah. It’s not too majorly showy. I’ll be thanking Kaz for it after all of this for weeks, though,”

Wylan looked around them. “Wanna gather up the others?”

“Sure,”

First, they approached Alex, who was nervously fidgeting with a garrote. He was male that night, and with his red shirt and wavy green hair, he was probably with most holiday-like person around, physically. He looked up at them as they neared, his mismatched eyes (one brown, one amber -like) shadowed by the lack of lights backstage.

“Hey, Alex,” Inej said. “You nervous?”

“Nah. What’s there to worry about?” He grinned at them, but Inej could tell he was, a little bit. “If I were nervous, I’d start cursing in Spanish,”

Inej raised an eyebrow. “Probably English too,”

“Probably. I don’t discriminate curses. Or much of anything,” Alex grinned a little bit.

“Where’s Hearthstone?”

Alex shrugged. “Off somewhere. You know how it is with him,”

“True,” Hearth was always disappearing right before performances, signing stuff about finding a ‘B-L-I-T-Z-E-N’ and Magnus Chase. Apparently there was a Sam involved that always left them to find a seat by herself, which resulted in the other two getting lost and Hearth having to come to their rescue.

“Okay, well, hopefully he makes it on time,” Inej said. “We’re just gonna go check up on the others,”

“Alright,”

Wylan and Inej drifted over to Penelope, who was dressed like Inej and muttering something about spells as she highlighted parts of the book she was reading. For some reason, her hair was purple.

“Penny, where are Baz and Simon?” Wylan asked, looking around.

Penelope looked up. “Oh hey. And I don’t know. Probably making out somewhere,” she made a face.

Inej laughed. “Sounds like them,”

Penelope sighed. “Simon is great and all, and I don’t mind living with him. I don’t even mind Baz coming over all the time. But seriously, sometimes I wish they were more like you,” she pointed at Wylan.

Wylan looked confused. “Why?”

Penelope looked at Inej. “How many times have you waked in on Wylan and that boyfriend of his, the Zemeni guy, kissing or making out or flirting so much you don’t mind going to face Morgana’s wrath?”

“Well, I don’t know about that ‘Morgana’s wrath’ part, but like 4 times? Maybe 5?” Inej said. Wylan flushed.

“Better than me,” Penelope declared. “I marked my 23rd time this morning. Life’s though,”

She then stood up, closed her book, then went to find her two friends.

“Life’s tough,” Inej repeated after she had left, looking at Wylan, who held up his hands in mock surrender.

Finally, they drifted over to Kat and Hale, who were bickering over a boat trip. Apparently, Hale wanted to buy _another_ boat, for Kat, so they could act like pirates.

“ _Hale, no_ ,” Kat said. “I don’t like boats. I don’t like water!”

“But you did fine during the Cleopatra’s Emerald time!”

“I don’t care! Not happening!”

“Then maybe I’ll just buy you a private jet so we won’t have to use mine all the time,”

“You’re ridiculous,” Kat looked up at Inej and Wylan, who had been standing some ways off, watching them go back and forth. “Inej, hey. Save me from this boy,”

“Hey!”

Inej laughed. “Watch out. If you keep talking about being pirates, people are gonna catch up to the thief thing quick,”

 (Inej had finally confirmed that they were thieves after seeing Hale pick some people’s pockets some weeks ago, and heard Kat talking to two twins about how they weren’t blowing up a bank to steal from it. Granted, Inej had been trailing them, and she was the Wraith, so it wasn’t like they were being careless.)

Hale waved his hand dismissively, billionaire style. The other hand was holding Kat’s. Cute.

“We’ll be fine. These people are clueless,”

“Are you guys ready to perform?” Wylan asked them.

Kat grinned. Ironically, she had a ‘cat who ate the canary’ smirk, despite her usual quiet demeanor. “More than ready. The night brings forth a surprising lot of possibility for my type of people,”

“I take it your family is in the crowd?” Inej said.

“I don’t even know how you know about them,” Kat said. “But yeah, them and then some,”

Inej laughed and she and Wylan left them alone, trailing back to their original spot.

“When do you think we’ll go on?” Wylan asked her.

“Don’t know, probably soon—”

“We will now introduce our dancers”

“See?” Inej told Wylan, who rolled his eyes.

The dancers all around them got into place, lining up with the rest of their groups right behind the curtains. Hearth appeared next to Alex, and Simon and Baz stumbled in from who knows where.

Miss Lucy’s voice rang above them. “Clary Fairchild! Jace Herondale! Alexander Lightwood! William Herondale! James Cartairs! Simon Lewis! Inej Ghafa! Alex Fierro! Wylan Van Eck! Hearthstone Alderman! Katarina Bishop! W.W. Hale the Fifth! Penelope Bunce! T. Basilton Grimm-Pitch! Simon Snow! Septimus Heap! Jenna Heap! Nicholas Heap! Julian Blackthorn! Emma Cartairs! Tiberius Blackthorn! Olivia Blackthorn! Christopher Herondale! Mark Blackthorn! ( **There are many more dancers, but I don’t feel like listing them all.** )

They all went onto stage as their groups were called, going in order.

Once they were all on stage, they bowed to the crowd. “Happy New Year’s!”

 

* * *

 

 

Inej, Kat, and Penelope moved forward and the boys backward, moving, flowing through the motions. They melted and kicky-flipped, stopped, rolled, every single step done with the utmost passion. Inej felt as if there was no difference between her and the people next to her.

Inej remembered what Wylan had told her about her dance, and she tried to create what they all saw. The gift Nina wanted, the story Matthias saw. The black and white dance Jesper preached of, the inspiration and realness Wylan felt. The Saint, the divine person Kaz saw when he looked at her.

She didn’t know is she succeeded, but she did know that in all those whirring movements and jumps, violent jarring stops, the twisting of their bodies, she found peace.

 

* * *

 

  

“You look amazing,” Wylan remarked after Inej had stepped out of the chanting room into her soloist outfit. If was a white two piece with golden swirls and hems. The skirt was long, reaching her ankles. Her top was short enough to expose about to Inej’s of her midriff, which made her feel a bit uncomfortable. It had a V-neck that wasn’t terribly revealing, and the sleeves were transparent, reaching past her shoulders and pooling several inches below in extra fabric. “But are you okay?’

Inej took a deep breath. The outfit made her feel the inkling of the silks she wore at the Menagerie, but it she focused on how loose it was, the pretty, pure whiteness of it, it wasn’t so bad. There would be no men touching her, no one forcing her to do anything.

“Yeah, thanks.” She replied.

Wylan nodded, then held up her mascara and eyeliner. “Do I retouch it?”

“Yeah, sure,” Miss Lucy had wanted her to wear make-up, for whatever reason, and after a while Inej had agreed. It hadn’t been as bad as she expected, but it still made her feel weird. She was also wearing pink lipstick, which had made her lips feel heavy. She did not enjoy the sensation.

Wylan leaned in carefully, swiping the mascara wand on her lashes. Inej wondered how he’d even learned to apply make-up. He never wore it, so she couldn’t see the use.

She checked that the hairstyle Nina had painstakingly created was still in place, all the pearl pins holding up the braids sticking into her hair. She’d gotten used to the pain, but Saints, she was glad she wasn’t a ballerina. They almost always wore their hair in similar fashion.

Wylan put more eyeliner on, looked at her lipstick, and instead took out lip gloss. “Not as heavy,” he explained.

Inej nodded. After Wylan was done, he stepped away. “Are you nervous?”

Inej laughed wanly. “Yes,”

He held her gaze, surprisingly confident. “You can, you can, you can,”

She took a breath. “I can, I can, I can.”

Miss Lucy’s voice broke through the prayer-like moment. “And now, a solo dance by our extraordinary Inej Ghafa!”

She took the stage.

 

* * *

 

Inej twirled, faster and faster, a blurring tornado of white. She could feel Jesper’s excitement, Matthias’ quiet encouragement, Nina’s enthusiasm, Wylan’s silent awe, and Kaz’s eyes, telling her she could do it all.

She lifted her leg, thanking shorts for existing, threw her head back, and found herself laughing. She couldn’t even hear it over the thrum of the music, and although she was swathed in light, a shining, sparkling diamond, she doubted anyone could tell. And so she laughed. She smiled. At that moment, she forgot who she was, her name, her past, her future, but she didn’t vanish. Didn’t disappear. She felt the dance bleeding into her, and she bled into it.

The music stopped. Her body stopped. The lights dimmed, and she was up again, raising her hands, a whirlwind of passion. And even when the dance was finished, when the curtains dropped, her smile didn’t. Nothing could bring her down.

 

* * *

 

“Oh goodness, oh gracious, oh Saints,” Inej and Wylan said, making their way through the crowd. They had changed into more normal-ish clothes, wearing jeans and nice shirts for the dinner that was soon to come. Inej was wearing a black shirt with long sleeve that reached her wrists and hung loosely. Purple swirls decorated the hems of the sleeve, the neckline, and the bottom, all lose and flow-y, but no skin on display. Wylan was wearing a light blue t-shirt over a thing white long sleeve shirt, and both of them were wearing hoodies. They dashed out, their arms full of small gifts exchanged by the dancers. Inej’s hair and makeup was still in place, but that could wait for later. They just wanted to reach their friends.

Someone tapped Inej’s shoulder, and she turned, coming face-to-face with Anika. “Hey, Wraith!”

Inej looked at her, startled, then smiled. Behind her, Pim, Raske, Roeder, Rotty, Specht, and Keeg all stood, grinning at her and Wylan. “Oh! Wow, I didn’t know you guys were coming,”

Before Anika could answer, she was tackled from behind by a soft body. “INEJ OH MY SAINTS!”

“Nina!” Inej laughed, then watched amused as Jesper tackled Wylan and lifted him, spinning him around.

“You guys were the most amazing amazings to ever amaze!” Nina exclaimed, kissing Inej on both cheeks. “Oh hey, it’s the Dregs,”

The others nodded at Nina, then stiffened. “Hey, Boss,”

Matthias and Kaz had finally caught up to the two adrenaline-blooded creatures. Kaz nodded at his members. “I wasn’t too sure if you Dregs would show up,”

Wylan and Inej glanced at each other. Right. He knew they would. He probably put up a notice and arranged seating, for goodness sake.

Specht gave a little snort. “You kidding? Wraith’s been helping us out for forever. Girl’s saved us plenty o’ time for us to be grateful. We had to come,”

Anika nodded. “Ya’ doing great, girl. Spy, student, thief, dancer, ya’ll over the place,”

She glanced at Kaz, then winked at Inej. Anika used to like Kaz, but she was long over that (unlike Inej), and now whenever Kaz or Inej went to the Slat, there was at least one suggestive comment or glance about their relationship. Inej chose to ignore it. “Thanks, Anika. I’m glad you guys came.”

Matthias ruffled Wylan’s curls and smiled at Inej. “You were both great,”

Kaz didn’t move to grab her hand, but he nodded still, and Inej felt his hand, gloved, flutter across her back. She gave a little shiver, and glanced at him, but he was facing the stage. “They were,”

Inej grinned. There were many reasons for her loving to dance, but the fact that her friends came to he shows, liked her dancing, was a big decider. It made her want to dance more.

They chatted with the other Dregs for a bit longer, until Kaz mentioned the six should be getting going. The others nodded, walking away and pushing each other around, talking about the Crow Club’s new drink for the holiday season.

They started to head out, Nina chattering happily about how amazing the dance was while Wylan and Inej asked questions about whether the lighting had been good, whether they could see everything.

Inej and Wylan shivered in the cold, glancing at Matthias hopefully, looking at the pack he had on. Matthias nodded, already knowing what they wanted. He took off the pack, taking out Inej’s new Inej-sized waistcoat from Nina and Wylan’s usual dark gray and light blue jacket. The two slipped them on gratefully.

They all piled into the car. Matthias grumbled about Jesper driving. Jesper told Matthias to “lighten up, have some fun,”, and Matthias muttered something about skipping out on ‘fun’ but got into the passenger seat anyway. Wylan, Nina, Inej, and Kaz all went into the backseat.

“The usual place?” Jesper asked.

“Yes!”

And they were off.

Nina took a hair comb out of her new purse and handed it to Inej. “Okay, the hairstyle can be defiled now,”

“While I’m not sure about the wording, okay,” Inej laughed.

Nina took out a few pins, looked at the braid, and said. “Kaz, unbraid her hair,”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard. I want Inej to be free of the pain ASAP. I’ll unpin, you unbraid, and Inej’s will comb it through,”

Inej looked at Kaz, who was split between staring at her hair and staring at Nina. She grinned. “Get to work,” she teased.

Kaz slowly took the braid, as if unsure. At first he tried to unbraid it gloves on, but despite being so good with everything else, Inej’s silky hair fell from his grasp. Soon, he’d tugged off his gloves, making quick work of the braids. Nina, seeing his ungloved hands, wiggled her eyebrows at Inej, who rolled her eyes.

At one point, Jesper swerved hard to avoid a car, and sent Wylan sprawling onto Nina sprawling onto Inej sprawling onto Kaz. Nina started to curse, and Wylan reached over the front to bop Jesper on the head as Matthias started to scold Jesper, who laughed and apologized. Kaz though was breathing shallowly, and Inej could practically hear his loud, panic thoughts. _Close quarters, people, people, bodies, no space, skin, no, no, people heavy bodies need gloves need gloves need gloves._

Inej pushed Nina off her and moved to give what space she could to Kaz. He’d been riding in the back seat lately, unusual for him because they were all practically on top one another. Maybe they should go back to the old arrangement, Kaz in the passenger seat, Wylan, Inej, and Matthias squeezed into the backseat with Nina on Matthias’ lap.

Nina started to work again after complaining to Jesper, but it took Kaz several minutes to fix his breathing. Nobody else seemed to notice how nervous he was. Inej waited for him to put his gloves on, to say that she could finish the work herself, but after a few stuttering breaths, he took her hair again and started to unbraid it, hands pale against the dark strands. Inej could have kissed him, although she suspected that would not help his case at the moment.

As they pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant, Inej finished the last few bits of combing, massaging her head.

They all piled out of the car, heading inside the well-lit restaurant. The World of Waffles ( **Sarah Dessen, anyone? The Truth About Forever? Just Listen?** ), the place the crew always went to for birthdays and special days like New Year’s and the Fourth of July.

They all went inside, going to a large circular booth. It went: Jesper, Wylan, Matthias, Nina, Inej, and Kaz.

Inej attempted to give Kaz a few extra inches of room, but after a few minutes, as everyone else looked through the menu and decided to stick to their usual waffle orders, Kaz slowly reached out to grab her hand, hands ungloved. Inej looked at him, but he had joined Matthias and Wylan in the art of scolding Jesper.

Inej poked Nina with her free hand, and the older girl looked at her. “What’s up?”

Inej tilted her head at her hand, caramel and moonlight fingers intertwined.

Nina squealed, waving her hands, and the others looked at her.

“Why are you squealing?” Jesper asked.

“IUD is clasped, desk tactic, right now,” Nina said. “Like…oh I don’t know, 70/75 degrees?”

“Seriously?” Jesper grinned. “I knew IUD would be turning into IUR soon,”

Inej blushed. “Oh shut up.”

Nina and Jesper met eyes, then both fanned themselves, all silly-stupid. “Oooooh, the heat is rising!”

Wylan, Matthias, and Kaz all shared confused looks. “What?”

“Nothing!” Inej said, glaring at Nina and Jesper.

She’d learned of the odd code that the two of them often used after telling Nina, and eventually Jesper, about what she had done at Christmas.

It went something like this:

IUD- In Ultimate Denial

IUR- In Ultimate Relationship.

Clasped- Holding hands.

Desk Tactic- Under a table/desk, hidden from view, even works for closets or things like that.

Degrees- The closer to 100, the better/more intense/hotter something is. ( **This is why Kaz is a 100 degrees** )

Yeah, these people are weird.

Their orders appeared before the conversation could be continued.

Nina was staring at Inej.

“What?” Inej raised her eyebrows at her.

Nina shrugged. “I’m sorry if this offensive in anyway, but you look really good with the mascara and eyeliner.”

Inej had gotten rid of the lipstick with her napkin already. “I’m not offended. I know that if done right, people can look really good with makeup. I just choose not to wear it…”

Nina smiled. “You know, you’re too good for us,”

“I know,” Inej said.

Nina stuck her tongue out, and the two giggled. “No, I’m not kidding though. You Suli are so nice,”

Inej shrugged, stealing bacon off of Kaz’s plate. Without looking, he took a strawberry from her. It wasn’t even worth blushing or fangirling over. Nina and Jesper had seen Kaz and Inej share the same water bottle and even ice cream cones before. (Now _that_ was a tale to tell…)

“We Suli live in close quarters, at least the groups are, and yet we are spread far and wide. We learn to be kind to each other, to not mind each other too much, and to share and accept those we meet. We can’t afford to fight, not really,”

“I wish everyone was more like you Suli,” Nina said.

Inej shook her head. “It’s not like we’re all super-cool. We are like any other people when it comes down to it. Suli who wish for grandeur and lavishness brush off our traditions and others. Suli who are bitter for not having a permanent home, nor land. You can never be rid of an evil side of something. Especially when others are constantly laughing at your misfortune,”

Nina was silent, and Inej knew she was thinking about the time Inej herself had not been very happy, when giving the chance to meet Ravkan leaders. Inej knew it hurt Nina to see Inej shun Ravka.

Inej ate a blueberry. “I’m sorry,”

Nina shook her head. “No, no, I get it. It’s just hard to see Ravka as anything other than great.”

Inej grinned at her, trying to lighten her spirit. “Love your country, Nina. Your loyalty and want for wellbeing towards Ravka is admirable. Keep your mind open about what it does, but please, never turn your back on your people. It’s a part of you,”

Nina grinned back, a little more subdued than Inej’s. “Yeah, I can do that,”

“Now eat your waffles. They’re giving you side-eye like no other for ignoring them,”

Now Nina laughed. “I can do that too,”

Inej also tried to eat her waffles, which she soon found difficult with only one hand, but she didn’t want to let go of Kaz’s hand, the cool fingers against her warm skin feeling entirely way too pleasant. Eventually though, he noticed her dilemma of trying to cut the waffles with a fork, muttering curses under her breath. He smiled at her a little, then let go of her hand. She missed it, but the going was a lot faster.

After they had eaten, devouring everything in their path, they all sat down, talked about what was to come. Well, except Jesper. He just kept on ordering. Inej was pretty sure he was going to set a record for Most Waffles Eaten In One Sitting one day, if he hadn’t already. Jesper’s own record was currently 48. And those had been pretty big waffles.

Once they had all finished, including Jesper, they had been in the restaurant for over an hour. It was just a bit past 11, and the performance had ended at 9. With Wylan /Inej changing, talking, the drive there, taking time to order, talking some more, and eating, they had taken everything sort of slow.

They paid the check (for once, they all joked to Kaz), and left, piling into the car once again.

Inej ghosted her fingers over Kaz’s, and he grasped her hand as he guided Jesper where to go for the fireworks. After Inej had bothered Kaz for months about seeing the fireworks her first year in the Dregs, four months after their BG outing, he caved and they had watched the fireworks from the roof of the Slat. Now, he found a new location for them to watch the fireworks every year. The first year it had only been the two of them, despite knowing Jesper, but as the group grew, people were slowly added, and last year, they had all watched the fireworks together.

Kaz directed Jesper, who for once drove carefully, to an abandoned office building that towered over the others, maybe a 20 minute commute from the restaurant. They left the car, and Kaz easily picked the lock on the back of the building. Nina made little ‘ooooh’ ghost noises, and Jesper stepped on the metal stairs dramatically to make them shake. Wylan gripped the handles. “Jesper, stoop,”

Nina laughed and Jesper cackled. They went ahead, jumping and running up the rusty steps. Wylan looked distressed, and Matthias was shouting after Nina and Jesper to _be careful if you fall and break something it won’t be my fault!_. Inej laughed, her and Kaz trailing behind them, hand in hand. He looked at their feet, as his raised the occasional squeak from the stairs, as did everyone else, but Inej seemed to ghost above them, silent as always. She knew it frustrated him not to be able to figure out how she managed to not make a sound on even the creakiest or groaning surfaces.

They reached the top, opening a door onto the roof, the wind a bit stronger, the air a bit colder than it had been before.

“Kaz, did you bring the—” Matthias started.

“Yeah,”

Kaz went over to some crates in the corner, three of them. Inej winced at the thought of him making a trip up those stairs three times, carrying the crates, not being able to use his crow’s cane. She studied how she walked, thinking about how he had been limping badly when they had walked around town.

Out of the first crate, he took out a ton of pillows, several big blankets, and even extra gloves and small circular scarf-like things for them to cover up their mouths and nose. They all took them gratefully, and the others started setting up the blankets and pillows to make a huge, futon-like space.

Inej stayed with Kaz, and from the second crate, they took out a propane burner, ingredients to make hot chocolate (how did the milk not freeze _or_ go bad? Kaz probably told it not to, and it must have been too scared to disobey). He also took out everyone’s favorite toppings, and a metal ladle.

When Jesper saw that, he laughed. “Kaz Brekker, Dirtyhands. He’ll bring you pillows and blankets, and remember to bring all your favorite hot coco toppings.”

Kaz threw a pillow at his face, making Jesper stumble a few steps back. “Jes, I will throw the M’n’Ms off the side of the building.”

“Never mind, Kaz Brekker will break your bones and shatter your dreams,”

“Better,”

The rest of them rolled their eyes at their antics, smiling.

“What’s in the third crate?” Inej asked.

“Everyone’s thermos,” Kaz said, pulling out a purple thermos, a red one, a green one, a light blue one, a silver one, and a black one. Inej had to wonder about when they had started to color code everything. Their blankets (the black one Kaz and Inej shared, the light blue one Jesper and Wylan snuggled with, and the red one Nina and Matthias used, although those were at home. Kaz had brought a myriad of bigger, more fluffy ones for the night), their wrapping paper, their thermos, even their mugs and clothes, as well as their Christmas stockings. It was a bit ridiculous, bit Inej had to admit she liked it. It kept everything in place. “And some wine,”

Jesper’s attention was immediately on them. “Wine?”

Kaz rolled his eyes. “Spike your drink, or sip some in these little plastic cups,” he took them from the crate.

Jesper reached into the crate, grabbing two bottles of wine, one red and one white, and he and Nina cheered.

Inej knew she wouldn’t be having any wine, maybe a sip from Nina or Kaz’s cup, but she did smile at their enthusiasm.

Kaz started to make the hot chocolate, pouring sugar here and there as the chocolate melted into the milk. Inej sat next to him, taking a picture of his relaxed face. He glanced over at her, steam curling around his pale pink lips. _Kissable_.

“This is great,”

He smiled. “Careful, Wraith. We still have work to do next week,”

Inej sighed, pouting at him. There’s always more work to do.

But right now, life was peaceful.

“Nina, time?” Matthias asked.

“11:46!”

 _Time sure flies_.

A few minutes later, everyone had their thermos filled and were attacking their toppings. They looked like wild animals.

Once they had finally settled on inside the cocoon, they waited quietly for 11:59. They were in the order of Matthias, Nina, Wylan, Jesper, Inej, and Kaz. Inej felt bad for Kaz and Matthias. They were on the ends, therefore the coldest.

11:59 hit, and Nina and Jesper started the countdown.

“59, 58, 57, 56,”

Inej snuggled into Kaz’s side, making sure he wasn’t nervous, holding his hand.

“49, 48, 47, 46,”

Jesper kissed Wylan on the mouth quickly, and Wylan blushed, joining in on the countdown.

“39, 38, 37, 36,”

Matthias and Nina raised their arms, hands clasped, smiling at each other, smiling at the world.

“29, 28, 27, 26,”

Jesper and Nina high-fived. Wylan and Inej looked at each other and grinned. Matthias and Kaz watched over them in completely different, yet still caring ways.

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…1!

A firework whistled into the sky, seemingly disappearing, until it appeared high above them, exploding into a million golden sparkles. More followed, filling the night air with the smell of gunpowder and happiness. Red faded to purple, blue dazzled yellow. Golden sparks exploded into smaller ones, and orange and blue swirled together. Kerch’s three fished appeared one after another, then the golden coins and daggers of the University.

Wylan whisper-yelled the chemicals of each color to Jesper, who grinned his lovable, crazy smile and kissed him after each name. Inej and Nina yelled happily, the noise drowned out as Nina raised her thermos and toasted the explosions that had a personality so much like her own. Laughing, Matthias joined her, and the couple toasted to the New Year, to the fireworks, to each other. Kaz gave a small laugh Inej barely heard.

The sky wasn’t back and blue anymore, but a big canvas of glitter and sparks, a dance of all the colors in the rainbow and radioactive then-somes.

Inej knew she’d be killing someone in a week, that Wylan would be creating bombs for a hostage situation in little less than a month. Jesper would shoot to kill; Matthias would crush somebody’s bones. Nina would control someone’s body, make their systems fail, and Kaz would bring down someone’s personal empire and life. And yet that moment was so perfect, joining the ones they had slowly been creating over the past few years of knowing each other. A perfect moment, a perfect time, a perfect place, the perfect company.

Inej turned to Kaz. _Perfect moment, huh?_

His pale skin shone with a million colors, his eyes reflected the light of the fireworks above them. Feeling her gaze on him, he turned, saw her smile, and offered one in return. As always, his grins were a thunderclap, a lightning bolt, something unexpected that made her heart beat faster. His skin, so unlike her own caramel coloring, had the slightest blush on his cheeks from the cold.

There would be a time for more thought-out actions, but this was possibly the best way to go about what she wanted to do.

Inej softly reached up to him with her hand, swiping a stray strand of hair from his face. He looked at her, peaceful, as peaceful as Kaz got, and so Inej decided to just go along with the idea in her head.

Inej grabbed his coat collar as purple glimmered above them. She pulled him down to her level, his eyes wide, her heart open, and after a small moment of hesitation, Inej pressed her lips against his.

It was better than what she had imagined it as, no longer a fantasy, but real, flesh and blood. His lips were soft, tasting of chocolate and wine, a little bit cold, more than a little bit uncertain. The thought was a silly one. This was probably his first kiss, yet he was 21.

A moment passed when neither moved, his bitter-coffee eyes panicked, looking into her own brown ones.

Doubt grasped Inej for a moment, she began to pull away. But then Kaz moved forward, shy, inexperienced, determined, and Inej’s heart seemed to overflow. No hands strayed to her body, but Kaz did move closer. The kiss was short, nothing more than a simple press of lips. Yet it was a New Year’s kiss, a kiss under bright, burning colors, a kiss with Kaz Brekker.

It was the best kiss Inej had ever received.

 

 

**OKAY so that was _long_. Hope you guys liked it. I was wondering if I should make Inej be slaved at the age she ‘canonly’ was? Currently (in this fic), Inej was kidnapped at age 16, met Kaz age 17, and she’s 20 now, almost 21. I want to make it so that she was kidnapped 14, met Kaz 15, but keep her current age the same, just to add two more years of them together. Right now they have one/one and a half years more time than in the books, and I just want to bump it up to three/three and a half to make the fact that they just kissed a bit more realistic. I’d just have to go back and change when her things were mentioned, and tell you if I decided to change it or not. I could go back to some of the earlier chapters and make some additions to how they are a bit more developed than what it seems, but if you guys feel that adding things isn’t necessary, that’s fine too. PLEASE LEAVE THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS (Yes/No+Why). Also, I need ideas for their birthdays. Keep in mind that Inej and Kaz are a year apart (not to the day, but maybe to the month, or two months), while Inej and Wylan are a few months apart, Matthias is the oldest by about a year, and Jesper, Nina, Kaz are all the same year. I’m thinking, including months and days that the ages, youngest to oldest, should be: Wylan, Inej, Nina, Kaz/Jesper can’t decide, and Matthias. Please leave your thoughts in the comments, suggestions and reviews appreciated, thanks for reading!**


	12. Yeah, This Is Mostly Kanej

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaz and Jesper in class, Inej shares her poetry in her and Kaz’s class. Kaz is drowning in Inej, and there is just so much yay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somewhat edited, really cute, just kissing, PLEASE COMMENT! Thanks for reading.

**Kaz**

 

Kaz walked with Jesper to their class at the University. After such good breaks one after another, he was at loathe to return. He didn’t want to focus on Professor Overstrand, a woman with too much purple on her being who liked blabbing on and on about responsibility, integrity, and doing one’s job. She was a sorceress or something like that, her Apprentice being one of the blond wizard boys in Inej’s dancing class. Seven-something. September?

They reached the room, Jesper talking about a job opportunity later in the week. “See, after the whole thing with the hostages goes; they want us to do an assassination. Kill this man called Maven Calore or something like that. Apparently he’s this guy who just got his father’s whole business empire, and is trying to kill a bunch of people? I don’t know the full story, but it’s worth looking into. They are willing to pay a pretty penny if Inej can get in there and slice some pretty boy’s throat. 

Kaz’s heart tightened at the thought of sending Inej towards danger. He held back from biting his lips, touching them with his fingers. A week has passed since New Year’s, and he was still confused, still on a long-lasting high. Inej had been pretty much the same as always, smiling, curling up next to him in the car or couch, and sending a boy who’d suggested too many things for her liking flying with a quick crack against the jaw from her brass knuckles. In other words: Perfectly amazing.

He mentally growled at himself. He wanted Inej, wanted to be with her, but it did not mean he was going to turn into a little goop ball of warmth. 

“Maybe,” he told Jesper as he took a seat. “If there’s coin to be made, I’ll take it. Nothing that would bother Wylan or Inej?”

“Well, he’s younger than us, but apparently a real sicko,” Jesper said. “It’s believed that his older brother killed his father, there’s footage of it, but Maven’s mom— the brothers are half siblings— is a Grisha and there are a few seeds of rumor that the mother can control people. Yay. Rebels from the company have been saying that it was the mother forcing the older brother to do it to get Maven in power. It’s kind of crazy right now,”

Kaz shrugged. He didn’t really care about whatever family drama was going on. All that mattered was that the job wouldn’t set off the two righteous ones in the group (he excluded Matthias, who would do anything if Nina swung her hips his way), and that there was money.

And that Inej wouldn’t get hurt, killed, kidnapped, or anything else. 

Professor Overstrand called for attention. The students got into place. Kaz wondered if he should stop by the Professor’s penthouse and steal some of her jewelry to sell. Jesper took a bunch of paper from his pocket and made origami until the Professor saw him and whisked it into the trash with a wave of her hand. Five minutes later Jesper took some more paper from his boots and folded a 3D paper gun. Kaz was impressed and watched him fold a knife, a bomb. Jesper glanced at Kaz’s cane and tried to replicate the crows’ head. It turned out alright.

They wrote the beginnings of how their made up business, a project they had started right before Winter Break, would hire people, who they would aim for and who’d they kick out. Kaz had two papers. One for the one he was turning in, which was an online business that  _ caught _ black market deals, and the one he kept to himself which had to do with a business that sold things to do magic tricks, illusions, did street performances, and all the things he would have loved as a child. 

It made him resentful, nostalgic, but he kept doing it. Jesper didn’t ask why he seemed to do only ‘good-enough’ work on one paper, the one he later saw Kaz turn in, and why he scribbled away at another which he pocketed. 

Instead, he asked Kaz what the plan for that night was. “Wylan and Inej are getting a two week break from their dance club, but Matthias and Nina are busy with his practice and her cooking club. Actually, Inej said something about looking for a job with Nina,”

“Job? We’ve got a lot lined up this month, next one too,”

“No, like, shifts and payment and real jobs,” Jesper said. “Weird people. Much rather keep to our work,”

Actually, Kaz could recall something about that. Hadn’t he walked in on Nina and Inej filling applications out two days ago? He’d asked them what they were for, and they said they wanted to work together. Kaz had been too preoccupied with ignoring Nina’s knowing stare and not-really-ignoring Inej’s quirking lips and blush to properly listen.  _ Goddamit, Kaz _ , he told himself.  _ Pay attention. Don’t you dare let yourself slip _ . 

If he falls, he’d be paying in blood, and he wasn’t too sure that it would only be his. 

“Well, I’m not going to stop them. We already decided that a percentage of what anyone makes goes to the house, so any extra money is more than welcomed. I guess I’ll talk to them about what they’ve applied for so far once we get back to the house,” 

“The house,” Jesper imitated. “Why can’t you just call it home already?”

Kaz’s eyes hardened, he could feel it. “That would be like admitting I have something to lose,”

Jesper shook his head. “You and I both know there’s always something more to lose, so it can’t just be that. Also, it’s not. Think about it this way: Something to fight for,”

“Jesper, I have been in brawls over 10 more inches of room before. I can always find something to throw a punch for,”

Jesper touched his side, as if remembering an old pain. “Like not wanting to play in the back yard?” Kaz had punched him last Summer when Jesper locked him and Matthias in their overgrown backyard to try and get them to help clean. It hadn’t worked.

“That would include cleaning the back yard, and I will fight for not having to stand out in the sun to do it,” Kaz answered. “Jesper, there is almost nothing I’m not willing to throw a punch about. It gets things done in the Barrel, and has saved me from a lot of trouble. You know, people used to say I was ‘Haskell’s rabid dog’. Until I put my fist through their mouth,”

“ _ Dirtyhands _ . Ugh, Kaz, I’m just trying to get you to admit the house is your home,”

“My home is pain,”

“Sure,” Jesper said, flicking a paper clip at Kaz. “And that’s why I’m called Jordie,”

Kaz didn’t flinch, although he very nearly kicked Jesper. He hated the fact he had slipped and called Jesper by his dead brother’s name. After lots and lots of rallying on Jesper’s part, he’d finally progressed to admitting Jordie was his (dead) brother. Jesper had flaunted like a peacock for half a year afterwards. It was saying that Jesper was important to Kaz. And he was, although no one was supposed to know about that. Kaz stuck to ‘Jes’.

He stretched his bad leg, the chill from outside not yet leaving his bones. He was about to answer when Professor Overstrand called out to Jesper. “Mr. Fahey! How will your gun and smith shop hire people? Have you even worked on anything?”

Jesper cheerfully called back that experience with guns and metal of a few years was appreciated, as well as the ability to make lewd jokes. She looked scandalized and told him they would be having a talk about what’s appropriate and not for a classroom the next day. Nobody liked staying after class, even the teachers. 

At the end, they turned in what they had written and class was dismissed. Kaz waved bye to Jesper, who waved back, and they went on their separate ways, to their second to last classes of the day. Kaz took this class alone and very rarely talked to anyone in it. He sat in the corner. On the days Fang took this class, he sat with Kaz, and the two exchanged a few words, usually complaining of their respective gang’s lack of care about certain things. Reyna from the Half-Bloods also took this class, and she and Kaz talked, although both remained wary of the other. She too good, he too bad. 

Today he was alone. The class was on leadership, which made Fang taking it a bit weird since Max was the leader of the Flock. It was actually called something like Leadership and High Position Counseling, which was  _ so _ Kerch, but relatively useful because although no one seemed to noticed, it taught you how to manipulate all the business men in Kerch and then some. Kaz took the occasional note and started to plan out a diagram for the hostage situation. It was a bunch of workers from one of the richer companies in Kerch. Kaz was going to torture them and get the secrets on the company, then threaten the company with a reveal of all wrongs they had done and make them pay a ransom. If nothing showed up, they’d launch the things they learned onto the internet then blow up the hostages. There were several sources that would pay for the doings of the company. Kaz knew Wylan still winced at the thought of committing mass murder, but the merchling knew better than to argue. Kaz had already made exceptions for him. 

The class passed by, Kaz picked the teachers pocket, took their golden watch (the third one since the school year started) and moved on, occasionally slipping his fingers into someone’s pocket as he moved down the hall, stealing the diamond studs in a girl’s ears, and an emerald and gold bracelet on a random boy. They all kept a wide berth from him, but all the same he was able to simply reach out and pluck off anything that might be of use or value.

He walked into the last class of the day, nodding to Professor Chase, who was fiddling with a dagger that looked to be made of bone and was sharp to the nail. He went to join Inej, who was already sitting at their usual spot. She looked up at him, brushing stray hairs from her braid off her face and tucking them behind her ear. “Hey. We’re doing poetry today.” She smiled nervously. “I promised to share some of my stuff today to Professor Chase.”

Kaz blinked as he slid in next to her. He knew of Inej’s writing, the proof in her hand as she wrote with one of the expensive-ass pens he’d gifted her, writing in her tight, flowing scripture. 

“Hmm,” he said non-committedly, taking out his own notebook. He had read very little of what Inej wrote, mostly out of respect. She hadn’t chosen to tell him about her blog, and he didn’t want to exploit it. Writing, the style Inej did, was more personal than many a great things and part of Kaz was scared to find out what happened in her mind. But she probably wouldn’t share anything too crazy to this class of half-strangers. Probably. 

Professor Chase, who Kaz noticed was a little bit out of it, smiling too wide and floating off to some weird place whenever she lost her train of thought, started to introduce poetry, giving her own examples and talking about some of the great Greek philosophers and poets. Kaz wondered if her boyfriend had proposed over break or something. 

“Now, class, I know you all spend your time writing things, but very few of you have shown me songs or poetry. But one of the students who has shared some with me, excellent if I may say, has volunteered to share her own pieces with the rest of you. Please applaud Miss Ghafa, who has a few snippets to impart with you. Inej?”

The class clapped and turned to her, attentive. It was probably the first time many of them had heard her talk. Inej stood up and flipped through her notebook, stopping and considering. “Most of these don’t have names,” she said, although she seemed to be looking more at Kaz then anything. He shrugged and made a ‘go on’ gesture with his hands. He thought of the charm that hug around his neck, and the one that hung around hers. 

Inej sighed. “This one is really short:”

 

“She was made of carved ivory,

Eyes chipped from the sky.

Lips of molded rubies, 

Hair cut from the night.

Her dress woven gold, 

A beauty, alright.

A beauty, so sad.”

 

She cleared her throat. “I, um, used to know a girl like this a few years back. Her looks did nothing to help her, and she could have been very vibrant under a different light. I made the poem from different compliments people used to give her.”

Professor Chase held her hand to stop the applause and nodded at Inej to keep going.

Inej licked her lips. 

 

“Flowers are pretty traps,

Like that of a young lady’s hands. 

The brighter, the more dangerous.

So don’t always pick the beauty in silks who slides you a flirtatious smile,

She’s belladonna.

But consider the nice girl with a shy glance and simple dress, 

She’s jasmine.”

 

Kaz bit his lip, remembering the faint smell on his jacket after he lent it to her during the job with the stupid husband he threatened. Jasmine fit her very well. He’d looked it up later, and there was nothing that could possibly work for her better. Inej didn’t bother to explain that one, and flipped through several pages, then stopped. 

 

“Take my hand,

Find freedom.

Take my heart,

Find love.

Take my life, my mind, my soul.

Find deep, burning hatred.”

 

Inej looked up from her notebook, looked at Kaz, then Professor Chase. She licked her lips, bit them, tapped then notebook, and then bit her lips again. “I… have… um… had trouble with… when I was younger I…”

She shook her head a little, stepped closer to Kaz. He wondered how he could possibly be a form of comfort to her. 

Inej started again. “I was kidnapped when I was 16. I was taken to a brothel and forced to serve men. I know some of this is common knowledge, because everything leaks in Ketterdam. Anyway, these men, the woman who bought me, they destroyed me bit by bit. I died on a slaver’s ship, and they shattered what was left of me. I will offer help, acceptance, and love, to those who deserve it. But if anyone ever tries to sell me again, if anyone makes me do something I do not want to do, there will be a blood bath. I’m no longer the weak little girl that couldn’t fight for herself. Do not try to own me, control me, take me, because as Kaz here,” she tilted her head at Kaz. “Likes to say, this city’s price is blood, and I’m happy to pay with yours,”

The class didn’t even pay attention to Professor Chase waiting for everyone to wait. They clapped at her. Boys and girls alike looked stunned, as if she was some sort of hope. Kaz wondered how many of them had had traumatic experiences in the pleasure-pain orientated city of Ketterdam. 

Inej looked away after the clapping reached its peak, pleased by the reaction. Kaz knew he wasn’t imagining the pinking in her cheeks, the shyness in her eyes. It was cute. He clapped with the rest of them. 

 

( **THIS IS MY POETRY! DON’T EVEN TRY AND TAKE IT. I AM WRITING A BOOK OF POETRY ONE DAY AND I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO SUE ANYONE! ALSO, I DON’T HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE LIKE INEJ’S. I JUST WROTE PIECES I THOUGHT WOULD FIT HER!** )

 

She shared some more pieces, short, rhyming ones. The class congratulated her, and she sat down. Her hand found Kaz’s sleeve, and she held onto it as if dizzy. Kaz let her for some time, then slowly pried her hand from his coat sleeve, taking it in his own and settling their intertwined fingers in between them. He was wearing gloves, but she seemed to not mind at the moment. Kaz wondered what other words were held in that notebook, what words begged to slip free of her dark lips and show the world the dazzling (and apparently morbid) mind of the Wraith. 

Professor Chase thanked Inej. Kaz was fairly sure that outside the Dregs, and her faraway family, Annabeth Chase was Inej’s hero or something. The woman was crazy smart, a great fighter, and had a good heart. She was part of the Half-Bloods, a human amplifier. Kaz knew the two of them often talked. He didn’t know everything, but that woman had seen death, killed, and gone through Hell in a way. She’d seen far too many ups and downs. She was also fiercely protective of her students, and even had tried to reach out to Kaz before. The most he could offer was to talk about symbolism with her. 

The class was tasked with writing a short poem. Kaz made a face. He couldn’t do poetry. Well, he could, but it was all very dead.

Inej leaned next to him, raising an eyebrow at his empty paper. He shrugged, and she moved closer to him, peering at Kaz, then at his hands. “What’s wrong?”

Kaz shrugged. “I’m good at symbolism and myths and riddles. And there saunters poverty, which has all of these things, and completely escapes my grasp.”

Inej smiled. “Wow, admitting you can’t do something. Progress, Kaz, I tell you. What do you want it to be about?”

He shrugged, then stuck out his tongue at her. He would admit to feeling childish, but still, the comment was getting old. “I don’t know. Kerch? Ketterdam? The Barrel? The Dregs? Us six?”

Inej smiled and helped him write the first few sentences to something that would later become a song. 

 

( **The following is an extract from a song on YouTube, called Original "Six of Crows" inspired by Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, by Gio Navas. It is amazing, fan-made, and OMGs just go watch it ** **_please_ ** **.”=)**

 

This is a city of toxic smoke.

We trade our lungs for a noose of rope.

Under our feet and the tilted ground,

Ashes of runaways never found.

 

Here is where the monsters hide.

Only the wicked can survive. 

 

He focused on his messy writing, trying to make it more readable. He thanked Inej, who looked around the classroom to make sure no one was looking at her, then kissed Kaz on the cheek. Kaz bit his lip and offered her a nervous smile. He wished he could offer her a kiss, but here in this open place, he couldn’t. The most he could do was accept hers, as open as he could manage. 

Kaz turned in his paper. Inej didn’t turn in anything, because her assignment had been to share what she had done. They left the class. Inej grabbed his hand; she looked at it, gloved and dark, and then lifted the edges of his glove. “Can I?”

Can she take off his armor, peel away what has kept him sane for so many years, destroy him, leave him broken and in pieces and flooded, drowning, in her? (Yes, he knew it was dramatic. But accurate…)

It was only a pair of gloves. To anyone else, that is. They protected him from skin and bodies and a cold, unforgiving sea. But… 

Yes, yes she could. He nodded, and then gestured at the car in the parking lot.  _ Wait. _

They reached the car, and Kaz opened it. They went in the back seat and closed the car, waiting for Jesper and Wylan, because Nina and Matthias wouldn’t be coming in the car. Kaz set his cane on the floor. 

Inej slowly peeled off the glove on his left hand, and Kaz let her, breaths shallow. She slid it off his fingers, then brushed his knuckles against her lips. She did the same thing to his right hand, right glove. Kaz bit his lip, feeling his jaw tick. He was biting his lips a lot lately, although not hard enough to break them or draw blood. She set his gloves aside and held his hands in hers, kissing his fingertips one by one. Kaz shivered, feeling his temperature drop and rise like a rollercoaster. 

She was wearing the little waistcoat Nina had given her, which looked adorable on her. She took it off in the warmth of the car, although she didn’t make him take his off. She slowly drew his hands to her waist, then slid them down to her hips. Inej was in his lap, her coat between their legs as an extra covering. She was above him. He stared up at her, Inej, an angel, a saint, the beautiful deity of darkness and shadows. 

She leaned down to him, hands on his covered shoulders, and let their lips touch. Kaz was scared. At a loss of what to do. His hands tighten around her hips; he pulled her a little bit closer. Inej grinned against his mouth. Shame he couldn’t see that.

She pulled away for a moment. Kaz took a shaky breath.

She beamed at him. They had not kissed since the New Year’s fireworks, although she had held his hands, gloved or not, kissed his cheek in flashing moments that left him wondering where she had come from. 

Kaz felt vulnerable, weak, under her. After so long of baring his fangs, sharpening his claws, making others crumble before him, he felt a sort of relief in slowly being unraveled and taken apart by her.

She kissed him lightly, torturing him and sparing him. The waves rocking his body plagued the back of his mind, pooled at his knees, constantly rising and lowering and making him feel like a small child who couldn’t do anything. Every touch from her made a drought and a flood. He tilted his head on instinct, she responded by doings so as well, and he felt overtaken.

He slipped his hands from her hips and placed them on the seat, shifting his leg a bit. It hurt. Inej started to shift to lift some of the weight when someone knocked on the window. Instantly, they were apart, Kaz slipping his gloves back on. Inej peered out the window, muttering something about thanking the Saints for Kerch’s lack of tinted windows regulation. It was impossible to see into the car, especially with the cloudy weather.

It was Jesper and Wylan. Inej unlocked the car, and instead of Jesper sliding into the driver’s seat, Wylan did, and Jesper got into the passenger seat. “Hey,” Wylan said. 

“Hi,” Inej said, putting on her seat belt. “You’re driving?”

“I decided I could do without extra stress on our first day back,” Wylan said. “Luckily, I know how to get home, so we won’t get lost,”

He drove them to the house, and Kaz felt like his heart was in his throat, although it had nothing to do with Wylan’s driving. Actually, Wylan was a pretty good driver, when he knew where he was going.

They went to the house, and Wylan and Jesper chatted about their days. Inej put in little bits and pieces, but Kaz did little more than hum and nod. He could feel the ghost of Inej’s lips and warmth. Inej noticed his lack of words offered, saw his still rapidly blinking eyes, and smiled a slow smile as he met her eyes then looked away. 

They reached the house and came out. They all went into the house quickly, Inej holding her coat in her hands and shivering as she jogged up to the door and opened it. Kaz usually picked the lock instead of trying to keep a key on his person. It was much more natural for him to have lock then a key. 

Jesper and Wylan waved at Inej and Kaz then went down to the basement, talking about some powder that they’d snuck in their class to make a small firework. One day they were going to burn the house down. 

Inej grabbed an oatmeal cookie from a batch that Nina had acquired then sat down on the couch, kicking her shoes off. Kaz took his off as well and set down his cane. Inej glanced at him slowly, then offered the cookie to him. He took a bite as he looked through his phone, checking the assignments he had to do for class. 

He sighed and set it on the coffee table, settling down on the couch and pulling out his lap top. He started to write an assignment. Inej rolled her eyes a bit, finishing the cookie then feeding him another one. “Right to work, Kaz?”

Kaz bit down on the cookie, his lips brushing her fingers. He was simply trying to distract himself from her, her lips, her eyes, her hair, her smile. The chain that matched his, dipping inside her shirt and flattering her collarbone. “Yeah,” he answered after swallowing. 

She tilted her head at him, taking a bite from the cookie where he left off, then offered him the last bite. 

He took it, pretty sure he was intoxicated. Not on actual alcohol, of course. But Inej. 

She scooted closer to him and took the computer from his hands. “What’s this? For your business class?”

“Yeah,”

“Says here it’s due next Monday,”

“I get extra credit if I turn it in 4 days or more before it’s due.” Kaz muttered. 

“That would be Thursday at latest,” Inej drawled. 

Kaz shouldn’t be feeling that nervous. But his heart was beating fast, his fingers twitched. How long was she going to sit there and look at him with her dark, beautiful eyes?

She moved again, a silent spirit, and grabbed their black blanket, setting it on top of Kaz’s legs.

His heart skipped a beat. Was she really doing this to him so soon after that? His mind could not handle that, never mind his body. 

She rose onto his lap, watching his reaction. There was no hiding the hitch in his breath, both of panic and desire. She waited. He didn’t push her away. He found his hands straying to her hair, which was in a simple braid down her back instead of the usual coil. His fingers passed down the plaits slowly, an action he’d imagined a hundred, a thousand times before. He reached the end of the braid. She watched him, still as a statue. His fingers hooked through the rubber band at the end, and he pulled it off slowly, slipping it onto his wrist. His fingers moved through the strands of hair. Inej smiled. He slowly undid her braid, remembering the day he’d truly noticed her beauty at the attic of the Slat, the wind from the harbor lifting her gorgeous hair like a cloak. She had been stunning then, and she still was now. 

Kaz moved his fingers through the plaits, slowly unraveling her hair as it fell around her. He reached the starting of the braid, and her hair fell around her, covering her back down to just below her hips. She rarely cut it since Tante Haleen had made her shave it when she was first bought. 

Kaz passed his fingers through her hair again, then again. He was amazed by the softness, the straightness of it. It was dark and silky, like Inej herself. 

Inej grinned at Kaz, and leaned down to kiss him, her hair falling down like a dark wave around them, blocking out everything else. 

_ I want you. I want you. I want you. _

He leaned forward to meet her, and he could feel the joy rolling off of her. She kissed him softly, neither of them daring to push for fear of doing something that would hurt them both. But Kaz was content for that moment. 

Inej kissed Kaz for a long time. They were soft, patient, respecting each other’s boundaries while enjoying the regions that they could. He would not live past this. 

She would destroy him. 

 


	13. Okay, So, What?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title speaks volumes. There’s a smol bean with road rage, Jesper shooting down sports team and some inner thoughts on his side, as well and Nina and Inej coming back from their interview. CUTE Wesper moment. Oh, and don’t forget the fangirl/boy code! Another Oh: Pokemon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment! This isn't edited (like usual, I need to get around to that). Also, years are officially being added to Kaz/Inej knowing each other, and maybe a year will be added to them knowing the crew, mostly so there can be more flashback materials. I'll get around to editing that, but now...Kanej has known each other since Inej was 15, Kaz 16, which means she got caught at 14, like it is in the books. Birthday dates will be released soon!

**Jesper**

So, Nina and him did end up jumping down and squealing, although they hadn’t walked in on Kaz and Inej. She just told them what had happened.

Nina fanned her face, jumped up and down, tackled Jesper, and then tackled Inej. “I can’t believe that Jesper was right next to you and he didn’t see you kiss him! Oh Saints this is so much progress I can’t even yay,”

“He was paying attention to Wylan,” Inej said, blushing, her head between her hands. They were in her room in a semi-circle, talking about Inej’s love life, which was finally a go.

Jesper hugged one of the various cushions that laid around Inej’s room. He had the sneaking suspicion they were met for Kaz to sit on whenever he went up to the attic to talk to her. “Well, how about the fact that you guys are constantly holding hands? We’ve seen it, like, twice?”

“We don’t go around showing you,”

“What about the fact that you kissed him on the cheek and his kissed you on the head during Christmas with Matthias and I on one side and Jesper and Wylan on the other side and no one saw?” Nina said. “Have I not been paying attention to my favorite ship?”

“I’m offended,” Jesper joked. “Wesper should be everyone’s favorite ship,”

“Wesper is pretty damn good,” Nina said. “But there’s just something abut the slow burn of Kanej that really takes me apart and puts me back together,”

“Agreed,” Inej said. That made them quiet. “What? If I didn’t think he was trying, I would’ve upped and left a long time ago. The slowness of everything might be frustrating, but when something happens, it pays off,”

Jesper shook his head. “I’m still dying about how Wylan and I interrupted you and Kaz,”

“You couldn’t have known,” Inej pointed out.

Jesper shrugged. “I should have been able to read the atmosphere,”

Inej shrugged dramatically back at him. “Whatever, Jesper. All I really know is that Things, capital T and everything, are moving now,”

Nina sighed, held her hands to her chest, and flopped down onto a bed of cushions. “Now, if I could just get Matthias to carry me to bed every night, and maybe then some on certain ones, life would be wonderful,”

Inej rolled her eyes. “You two have enjoyed each other’s skin plenty of times,”

“Ahh, but Inej, I want to enjoy it more,” Nina said.

Jesper grinned. He could relate. “I know what you mean. Little merchling of mine isn’t as innocent as he seems. Got some serious bite in him,”

Inej covered her ears. “Lalalalala, don’t want to hear about your sex lives, lalalalala,”

“How about our kissing lives?” Nina asked Inej, wrenching her hands from her ears.

Inej looked up at her. “Is it… fangirl material?”

Yeah, they infected her with fan fiction. She was all over cute boyxboy relationships and Flirty! Character x Shy! Character. No slash or smut or lemons though. She didn’t need that stuff in her mind after her real life experiences.

“Maybe…” Nina said. “I swear though, I’m going to melt one of these days because damn, Matthias without a shirt is just…” she fanned her face.

Jesper grinned. “Or Wylan when he gets feisty. He takes over the whole operation, and I can’t do anything to stop him because the moment he starts going, I’m pretty much mindless and do whatever he wants me to do,”

Inej covered her ears again. “I’m here for the cute cuddles and pecks on the cheeks and shy kisses, not your goddamn sex lives! Stop talking about your shirtless Fjerdan and dominant merchling! I don’t need any BDSM on my mind right now, thank you very much!” she yelled.

Jesper heard things clatter to the ground from below them and several curses from Kaz and Matthias followed with Wylan saying, in an embarrassed voice, something about going down to the basement. They were all quiet, and Jesper watched as Inej grew redder and redder at the realization they had heard her.

Jesper and Nina apologized.

 

* * *

 

 

But goddamn, Wylan on top _was_ wonderful. Jesper closed his eyes as Wylan slide down Jesper’s torso, groaning at every kiss and bite. Jesper’s hands were tied up as punishment for talking about what happened in the basement and Jesper’s room to Inej/Nina. He wasn’t really complaining, although he did wish he could grab Wylan and kiss him until they were both numb, feeling nothing but each other.

Wylan went down lower.

 

* * *

 

“Not a word, Zenik,” he told Nina the next morning as he lifted the collar of his turtleneck shirt, covering up the love bite Nina had been staring at.

She beamed at him. “Maybe only a slash fic with different names,”

Inej passed by them. “Lalalalalalala,”

Kaz just looked sort of disturbed from where he was typing impossibly fast with one hand and holding a spoon for cereal in the other. Wylan was somewhere in the basement still, and Matthias was reacting similarly to Inej and putting on ear buds.

Jesper got himself a bowl of Lucky Charms (although they had yet to make him lucky, he still ha hope), and sat down next to Kaz. “So, what’s up after school?”

Nina shrugged. “Wylan has his choir. Inej and I have to go to the place to finalize the interview after school today. I’ll be missing Matthias’ practice,”

She bopped him on the head. “Hey, you okay with that?”

Matthias pulled out an ear bud and looked up. “What?”

“I’ll be missing your practice today since Inej and I have to go to the store. You’ll be okay without my support?” Nina teased.

Matthias momentarily looked like a lost puppy, then shrugged. “Don’t get hurt, don’t hurt anybody unless they try to hurt you, don’t get kidnapped, don’t get stolen from, don’t die, don’t kill, don’t leave the country, don’t go with a stranger if they offer you waffles, stick by Inej the whole time,”

Nina rolled her eyes. “You concern is appreciated, but extremely over-blown. I’m not going to get in trouble, Matthias. Inej will be there to save me anyways,”

Inej gave a little salute to her, smiling. “At your service, Miss Zenik,”

Nina laughed.

Matthias nodded slowly, then frowned. “Who’s driving?”

“I can’t,” said Jesper as the basement door opened and Wylan stepped out, freshly showered. He poured his boyfriend some Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Wylan sat down next to him, kissing his cheek sleepily. “I’m going to Wy’s practice.”

Nina huffed. “I can drive us there.”

Matthias pet her hand softly. “Nina. You’ll run over half the town on accident before even making it to the highway. And you’ll be dragging along 10 different stop signs too,”

Nina grumbled. Jesper and Wylan gave soft giggles.

Kaz looked up from his Cheerios, which Jesper thought was super ironic because Kaz Brekker ≠ Cheery. He was drinking it with chocolate milk. Everyone had deemed their lives more important over making a quip about his childish tastes. Then again, Jesper was eating Lucky Charms, and Wylan’s favorite cereal was Trix... “Inej can drive,”

The other’s looked at him dumbly, and Inej slammed a glass of water on the table. “ _No I cannot_ ,” she said darkly. “Kaz, we agreed that we wouldn’t mention me driving since the incident,”

“That was like three years ago, Inej,” Kaz said. “I doubt it’ll go the same way,”

“No you don’t. You just want me to do it so you can tease me about it later,”

“Inej can drive?” Nina asks suddenly, and Jesper nods. “What do you _mean_ , Inej can drive?”

Kaz looked amused. “It means she can drive. She’s good enough. Goes a bit fast, doesn’t know anything about blinkers. But she’s short, so she has a hard time seeing over the wheel. She used to set books on the chair  and sit on top of them, and put blocks on her feet to reach the pedals. We eventually figured out a way for her to do without, which included seriously messing with the cars mechanics…Anyway, she didn’t want to learn. Fought me ages before I grabbed her and threw her into the car. She even fought me while I carried her down the stairs of the Slat, and while I tried to teach her. But then she made a car fall into the canal, and I agreed to leave her alone about it.”

Jesper held up his hands in a _time out_ gesture. “Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. Inej can drive? I mean like, she’s driven the car a couple blocks before, and she’s always helping Nina not drive across people’s yards, but still. Kaz taught her? Inej made a car drown? _And_ she’s too short to see over the steering wheel?”

Inej glared, throwing a glove at his face. He was tempted to tease some more, but he had a feeling the next object thrown would be considerably sharper. “Why is the least important question the one with the most emphasis? Yes, I can drive. I’m not horribly bad, but I’m not amazing, per say. Yes, Kaz taught me. Yes, Kaz can drive, but he doesn’t like it. He literally grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder one day, dumped me inside the car, steered us to an empty parking lot and had me wreak havoc on out nerves. Then came the highway. And _yes_ , Jesper, I have trouble driving big cars because I can’t see. Shut up, plenty of people have trouble! I’m not the only short person out there,”

Kaz pet her head, smirking. “But you’re probably the feistiest.”

“Whatever, Kaz,”

Jesper leaned forward. He _so_ wanted to interrogate Kaz on the Inej front, but he was scared it would end with a public execution of himself, and he must admit that wasn’t the end he wanted. “So, more about Inej making a car fall into a canal?”

The other’s nodded eagerly. “We’re interested too.”

Kaz smirked at Inej again before continuing. “Well, one day Inej was driving the car, and we were in some weird section right next to one of the canals. You know how they just put in the railings last year? Well, that meant no railings back then. So, this other car, some of the Dregs were in there, was kind of moving weird, and Inej got annoyed and speeded toward them. They backed up at an angle, and then Inej tried to give them some space, but it ended up with her getting confused and putting the wheel wrong, so she almost rammed into their front, and to avoid her they reversed and fell back into the canal. Inej freaked out and jumped out of the car and into the canal to help them out. It was hilarious and I’m pretty sure that was the first time most the Dregs ever saw me laugh. Everybody lived, but she has insisted on not driving since,”

Jesper was laughing before he even finished, trying to imagine little Inej speeding in a huge car. It was too much. And seriously, her diving into a canal super panicked? Gold. Precious, precious gold.

Nina’s face was red from trying not to laugh, and it looked like she was in some serious pain, because she had tears on her face. Wylan had chocked on his cereal at some point, and was now coughing/laughing, while Matthias was biting his lips, petting Inej while trying not to join the rest of them.

“Kaz!” Inej said, throwing her other glove at him.

“What? That has to be one of the best accidents ever, even if we had to commandeer a crane to get it out.”

Nina looked startled. “I don’t even want to know,”

Kaz shrugged.

Inej groaned. “I don’t want to drive.”

“C’mon, it’ll be fun,” Nina said, nudging her shoulder.

“No it won’t!”

Jesper pointed his hand towards the sky. “INEJ IS DRIVING US TO SCHOOL,”

Kaz started to laugh. “This is going to be great,”

Then, he looked around. “But beware. Anika has many great stories about Inej’s driving…”

“Kaz no!” Inej said, getting up to try and shove a cushion in his face.

Kaz stood up to dodge her. “And they all have to do about our little Wraith’s horrible road rage,”

“KAZ BREKKER I’M GOING TO TEACH YOU SOMETHING ABOUT HOLY PUNISHMENT!”

Whatever that meant, Jesper wanted to watch.

 

* * *

 

 

While Inej was probably a better driver than Jesper (She was only about 20 miles above the speed limit. He was usually closer to 30) (and she had good control), she was the more hilarious one. A hilarity warning would be necessary when entering the car. It would go something like this:

**ALERT: Hilarity Warning! Smol Bean With Road Rage In The Vicinity!**

It was too good to be true. Every other car was too slow, moving weird, and along with her shortness, everything just frustrated Inej to no end.

At one point, some guy was driving to slowly (at the speed limit) according to her. She honked at it, and the guy flipped her off from the window. Inej accelerated violently, and the car barely swerved out of the way before she knocked over the side mirror.

“Stupid car! If you don’t move I’m gonna run you over!”

“Ugh no it was my turn WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!?”

“I… can’t see ugh a little bit higher…Damn you Kaz, stop laughing,”

“NINA AND JESPER I WILL THROW YOU OUT OF THIS CAR!”

“MOTHER FUDGER YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST CUT IN FRONT OF ME LIKE THAT?!”

“YEAH, I’m honking at you, you stupid person! I will MURDER YOU! MOVE!”

“I am not speeding, officer, I’m just going at the speed everyone else should be at. I shall not pay the fine. Please remove your foot. No? Well, I’m not paying your medical bill either. Good bye.” ( _Stadwatch_ pulled them over for almost running the vehicle over).

“I hate you all,”

 

* * *

 

 

Jesper practically fell out of the car laughing his head off, stumbling onto the pavement. Some students nearby looked at him and scooted away as if he was demented (not too far off), but Jesper didn’t really care. The experience had been too amazing.

Wylan slid out of the car next to him, giggling uncontrollably as he handed Jesper his things. Nina and Matthias excited on the other side, Nina shrieking with laughter and Matthias helping her laugh as he shook with somewhat controlled little snorts. Then Kaz appeared, as did Inej, who looked murderous. She aimed her pencil bag at Jesper, and a paperback book at Kaz, both of which caught them easily and handed them back. Jesper pet her head and she kicked him in the shin.

“You guys are assholes!” Inej said.

“Oooh, she’s bringing the big bad words out!” Nina screamed.

“I hate you all. All of you are going to be having bad surprises…” Inej said darkly. Jesper tried not to mind her.

“Sure, little Wraith,” said Kaz. “We’ll watch out for the little road raging cinnamon roll of death. We quaver in our boots.”

Inej threw another book at him, this time a hard cover. “I am never driving again! Unless it is a life situation, I will only drive Nina and myself to work today, I guess I have to drop you off Kaz, and then drive us back. After that, NEVER AGAIN,”

Jesper felled to his knees, clutching his heart. “Oh no, I’m having a heart attack! Inej, drive me to the hospital!”

Inej smiled angelically. “Jesper, do you wish for me to arrange a one-way ticket to Hell? Because it is definitely in my capabilities to have you there in no time. No. Time. At. All.”

“You know what, I think I’m alright,” Jesper said.

Inej nodded, still giving him that creepy smile. She turned to Nina and Kaz, who were looking at each other with very disturbed ‘ _WTF our little angel Inej of goodness and snuggles can make that face? It looks like something **you** would do_,’ expressions.

“Nina, if you’re late, I’m leaving. Kaz, if you’re late, I’m leaving. And I know we have the same last class, whatever, but if you even try to make one stop or do anything to stop me from getting to this horrible, damned monster of a vehicle, I will destroy you,”

Kaz pet her, smirking. “You already did destroy me, Wraith,”

She deadpanned. “1. Not what I meant. 2. In any other situation, I would be happy. 3. I am not kidding. 4. Fudge you. 5. I hate all of you. 6. Flattery will get you nowhere,”

She then grabbed her stuff and went to her class, Kaz trailing a safe distance behind her.

A few moments of silence passed, and Jesper and Nina were hooting with laughter again.

 

* * *

 

 

Jesper and Wylan were sitting outside of their lab room in the hallway, gray smoke puffing into the corridors from the door a few meters away from them. They had slipped away from the evacuation procedure that was happening from the other door in the classroom, not wanting to deal with their classmates after blowing up the lab again.

There was a new poster on the wall, printed out during break and put up on the first day. It was titled, “ _In The Case That Fahey and Van Eck Blow Something Up, Please…_ ”, then continued to list the ways they would evacuate. Jesper had put a smiley face sticker on it.

He watched as Wylan drew with the pencils Kaz had gotten him for Christmas, bored doodles on his (otherwise unused) science notebook. Jesper loved watching his doodle, even more than him drawing, because it was simple, out-of-no-where stuff that just came to the smol bean.

Suddenly, Wylan sat up, whipping out some nice paper from his (cute) satchel. “Hey Jes, let me see your hand,”

“What for?”

“Just do it,” Wylan said, pulling on Jesper’s arm. Jesper shrugged, giving him his long fingered and dark skinned hand over to Wylan. Wylan was always muttering about him having pianist fingers, but Jesper found them just as useful on a gun’s trigger.

Wylan took Jesper’s hand ad traced it on the paper carefully, holding it still while Jesper’s feet tapped on the floor impatiently and he fiddled with his shoelaces. The smaller boy made quick work. “Here you go,” he said, handing Jesper his hand back, then tracing his own, considerably smaller, hand inside Jesper’s traced one. And then he was off, pencils flashing in between his hands as he switched them every so often, going from design to design, adding lines and nails, knuckles and such. Then he added tons of small designs, a cartoon going off, a Royal Flush, a flute, some pistols, and many more adorable Wesper insignias. Jesper grinned as he watched. In no time, Wylan finished with his pencils, quickly getting his pens to ink it all in. Kaz really had thought of everything.

A few strokes there, here, everywhere. It was amazing to watch Wylan work, like there was no other world but his paper, canvas, and whatever medium he had in his hands.

Suddenly, several markers were shoved into his hands. “C’mon, Jesper, help me color it in. Keep our skin colors the same, but do whatever you want to with the little designs,” Wylan said, smiling at him, his curls falling into his eyes.

            Jesper brushed away Wylan’s hair from his face, pecked the boy on the lips, and did as he was told. Drawing was not particularly hard to keep his attention on, despite the fact it could take hours, days even, to finish a single piece. But he didn’t really draw unless he was with Wylan, and Wylan had so many little quirks and habits that Jesper could have watched him non-stop for a few months and not uncover them all. It was a good way to keep himself occupied.

Jesper filled in the little cartoon bomb gray and black, lighting the string with a reddish-orange (orangey-red?) dot and making little dashes of yellow and orange around it. Wylan was coloring in the nails carefully, keeping them natural.

“Do you think they’re ever gonna sue us?” Jesper asked.

Wylan glanced up at him from the corner of his big blue eyes. “You, maybe. I’m too cute to get sued.”

Jesper laughed. “Oh c’mon, Wy. I can’t compete with _that_. You’re adorable.”

Wylan rolled his eyes, smiling as he kissed Jesper, then went back to drawing. “You’re doing fine in the looks department, Jesper. Although you are a bit sparkly…”

“Nina gave me the gift cards, and I’m going to use them!” he said, tilting his dark blue sequined fedora-style hat on his head. “Be glad I didn’t wear the vest that goes with this. I would’ve gotten all the ladies _and_ all the boys too,”

Wylan pouted a bit. “Hmph,”

Jesper smirked, remembering how Wylan had _not not not_ been very fond of Kuwei during the time the boy had been with them. That could be, of course, because Wylan had been temporarily Tailored to look just like Kuwei, or the fact that Kuwei at one point kissed Jesper, and flirted with him.

Yeah, Wylan had not been happy about that.

“But my cute little merchling makes it so I have eyes for nobody else, so it wouldn’t be much use,” Jesper said, putting a drawl to his words to make Wylan laugh. He succeeded.

“Oh, let me see that,” Jesper said, grabbing a cyan marker from the EVERY COLORING MATERIAL YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE suit case. He opened it, placing the cap on the other end, and grabbed Wylan’s face. “Hey, stay still,”

Wylan struggled, then gave up, his cheeks squished by one of Jesper’s hands. “Watur yug dwuig?”

“Being artistic,” Jesper answered. He put a dot on the top left side of Wylan’s face, then made a long, low swirl as Wylan squirmed.

“ _Jes_ ,” he complained.

“ _Wy_ ,” he imitated back, making another swirl and coloring a circle curling in at the end. He went like that for some time, then grabbed another shade of blue, making a sliver of a line next to the original mark, then grabbing silver and adding little spots all over the design.

Result? The left side of Wylan’s face looked ethereal, with swirls and curls live ivy and drops of silver on his skin which Jesper had shaded in with gray. Jesper smirked. “Perfect,”

Wylan looked at him grumpily, grabbing his phone and going into the camera app and turning the thing to selfie mode. He shifted his curls out of the way to see what Jesper had done to his face, turning it this way and that, his fingers right above the design but not touching it, as if scared to smudge the marker.

He looked over at Jesper grudgingly, which was cute, so Jesper kissed him quickly again. “I like it…”

Jesper smirked at Wylan, then said, “Do it to me, do it to me,”

Wylan rolled his eyes grabbing a gel pen from a small side compartment Kaz had later made them aware of. It would stand against his darker skin better than a marker ( **I know because my best friend is African (hey there Lima Bean!), and we’ve colored on ourselves before, and I’m light skinned so markers work fine and gel pens stand against their skin way better.** ). He looked for other colors, choosing a sparkly green and a darker shade of forest green. Wylan settled into Jesper’s lap and worked on his face, laughing whenever Jesper scrunched up his face at the feel of the cold ink.

Jesper sat there quietly for the most part, his fingers tapping against the white marble floors as he waited impatiently.

“Are you done yet?”

“Nu uh,”

“Are you done yet?”

“Nope,”

“Are you done yet?”

“No,”

“Are you done yet?”

“No.”

“Are you done yet?”

“Ghezen, Jesper, please wait more than 45 seconds between asking me,” Wylan said, although he wasn’t really annoyed.

1 minute later. “Are you—”

“No. And if you keep asking, I won’t kiss you for the rest of the day,”

“You drive a hard bargain merchling, but I don’t think you could resist,”

“I will also leave this design half-done and a mess to make you look like a fool,”

“ _You wouldn’t dare_ ,”

“ _I would_ ,”

Jesper opened his eyes and they glared at each other before collapsing into giggles. Wylan kissed him for a bit, and Jesper wrapped his arms around his waist, kissing him back. They weren’t about to get too into it in the hallway when anyone could pass by (Jesper didn’t mind but Wylan preferred to keep passion in the bedroom (or the house’s closets…), so after a bit, Jesper felt Wylan pull back some, his mouth slightly open, and Jesper would have kissed him again if he didn’t want for the design to be finished.

Wylan finished a few minutes later, and Jesper admired himself greatly. “Green is so my color,”

Wylan rolled his eyes but nodded, smiling. They picked everything up carefully, swearing to finish the drawing once they were home, and Jesper dragged him to an unused closet Jesper had found ages ago. They decided to ditch their next classes, because _why not_ ( **don’t do this IRL, kids!** ) He had candy in his pocket, and he wanted to see how feisty Wylan might get trying to get it out of his mouth…

* * *

 

 

“Jesper, tell me, why can I already tell that you and Wylan were making out?” Kaz said as he sat down across from him at a pizza place not far from their usual eating spot. Matthias and Nina came in with them, but Inej had been the first one there.

“We might’ve been,” Jesper said, after choking on his water rather violently.

Nina gave a little snort. “There is not _might’ve_ , Jesper. You’re both flushed, your clothes and hair are mussed, your lips are super pink, and Wylan is blushing bright red, confirming that you have indeed been kissing.” She paused, and then seem to take in the other parts of their faces. “What the fuck is up with your faces?”

“You just noticed?”

“Oh, shut up. You’re usually sparkly, so excuse me for not noticing right way,” Nina rolled her eyes.

“Further evidence,” Kaz said, “that the two were kissing is that they missed their second class, that there was smoke in the hallways, and that the candy in Jesper’s pocket from this morning is no longer in his pocket. You do remember that I get an alarm anytime you are absent, right?”

“Quit being a stalker, Kaz,” Inej said, laughing at Wylan’s somewhat mortified expression.

“Says the spy,” he rebuked, although he was smiling.

Jesper frowned. “How did you know I had candy? I mean, your Kaz, so there’s no way you _couldn’t_ have known, but you know what I mean,”

Kaz shrugged. “I might have pick pocketed you like 5 different times this morning, then put the candy back later. Just wanted to see if you would notice, but I'm me, so you didn't,”

Jesper rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t really mad. “Oh, the waiter,”

Nina got almost every topping available, paying extra for each topping because “it’s a good life to live”, while Matthias stuck to pepperoni. Jesper got himself some pineapple and ham on his, while Wylan got like a million types of cheese. Kaz wasn’t the biggest fan of pizza, although Inej always gave him a bit of hers before she added a ton of pepper to it. He just got some mozzarella sticks.

They chatted a bit, and Jesper watched attentively as Kaz and Inej seemed to lean into each other, adorably, brushing arms and hands every once in a while. He was pretty sure the group had a right to know what was up with those two after forever being stuck in the middle of their somewhat-endearing-somewhat-tortuous sexual tension.

But he really didn’t want Kaz to shut him out, which made everything a bit harder. Jesper was always one for gambling, but it wasn’t worth it to gamble with Kaz; one never won. He didn’t want to see Kaz how the Dregs used to talk about him: Someone who rarely spoke, never smiled, never acknowledged or neared anything that wasn’t an investment to be made or money to be collected. He would insult, and swindle and throw a punch, but he was so deathly quiet otherwise that people who hadn’t known him long enough thought he was mute.

He wasn’t mute. He was deader inside than anything. But now he wasn’t. He was still cruel and cold, but he was alive to them, with them, and the thought of turning him back into that cold statue of gore and hatred scared him. And he always shut down when Jesper tried to breach the subject about Inej before. Always, always, always, and it was scary. But maybe this time it would be better...

The pizza and things arrived a bit later, and when Inej saw her large glass of Dr. Pepper, she took a sip and grinned. “Peppah!” she told Kaz, who raised one dark eyebrow and sipped his Mtn. Dew.

Jesper groaned along with Nina as they took a bite of their slices, Nina looking like she was in heaven. The rest of the group looked highly scandalized by the exaggerated moans, and Jesper was glad that there wasn’t anybody else eating in the outside area of the restaurant, choosing instead to stick to the warmth of the inside.

Matthias covered Wylan’s eyes comically as Nina’s eyes rolled in pizza-bliss, and Jesper cracked up. “Matty, it’s not like he’s seeing anything R-rated, or something he hasn’t seen before,”

“I’m pretty sure Nina is raping that pizza, and I don’t need Wylan seeing that. I don’t care what you two do in the bedroom, this is too much,” Matthias deadpanned. “I am your mother, and you will do as I say,”

Inej laughed. “I think that after calling him our mom so much, Matthias’ mental gears have actually shifted into a parental mind,”

Kaz shrugged. “He tries to parent everyone. Even Nina sometimes, which is odd. He’s even tried to put me into therapy before,”

Nina choked on her pizza. “Saints, he what now?”

Jesper was choking on his orange Fanta, laughing. “I’m going to need you two,” he gestured at Kaz and Matthias. “To write down all the stuff that happens when the rest of us aren’t around,”

Matthias shrugged. “It’s weird,”

“Very much so,” Kaz agreed. “I’ve learned to try not to question it too much. Apparently, I can’t end all aspects of life, and the weird stuff that happens when I’m around Matthias is one of them. Shame. I wish I could end life in all ways with a single snap,” he snapped his fingers, which was impressive considering his gloves.

“You probably can and haven’t figured it out yet, _demjin_ ,” Matthias said.

“Thanks for the encouragement in ending life, Helvar,”

“That wasn’t what I—”

“I swear, it’s strange how you guys have this sort of banter, but argue every hour or so,” Nina said. “Like, are you bros or rivals? It’s like Pokémon,”

“Do not compare me to an eternally 10-year-old boy with squiggle lines on his cheeks that dies like 2 or 3 times and has a mutant Pikachu.” Kaz answered. “I mean, why does he never grow up? He’s been traveling for ages. The only way you can compare me to Ash is because Inej is like my Pikachu, because they both hated Ash and I at first and then warmed up to us,”

After a moment of silence, he said. “I blame Wylan. I cannot believe I agreed to watch that show with you,”

Wylan beamed. “Pokémon, gotta catch ‘em all~,”

“I will not listen to that torture. It always gets stuck in my head,” Kaz groaned. “And I hate it,”

“I know it’s my destiny~”

“No, stop,” Kaz glared. He really did hate the theme song, because after Wylan played it, they would all hum it, and it’d get to the point where Kaz would kick them out of the house only to be heard breaking something in the kitchen because he had started to hum along too.

“Pokémon~ Oh, you’re my best friend in this world we must defend~”

“Wylan, stop,” Kaz threw the pepper shaker at him, and Jesper barely had time to grab it before it knocked into the boy’s forehead. Kaz was not kidding.

Wylan grinned. “I’m so putting that on our stereo system when we get back home.”

“I hate you,” Kaz said. “If I start humming that stupid, evil, deranged, revolting, absurd and inane warble of notes, I will confiscate all your science, art, and music-oriented stuff and burn them. Except the stuff that I got for you, which I will simply keep away from you until a later time because that cost me too much money to throw away,”

At that point, Inej shoved some pizza into Kaz’s mouth, who half-glared at her and took a bite. After his did, she took it back and continued to eat from it normally. Jesper wished it was fangirl/boy material, but after the time he lost 500 _kruge_ after betting they wouldn’t share the same ice cream cone, he decided not to react to the fact that they could share practically all foods without a single problem. Actually, the ice cream cone thing had freaked him out a bit. Unless it was a pretty big sum of money, he’d never do anything like that with anyone except maybe Wylan. And that had been about a year and a half, two years, ago before they were even SERIOUSLY crushing on each other, just _sorta_ crushing on each other.

They ate in silence for a bit, and the group watched the Kanej unfold. Kaz handed Inej his mozzarella stick and Inej took a bite.

Inej handed Kaz her Dr. Pepper (which she never even let Nina take a sip of, she was damn _protective_ of that drink), and he took a sip.

She took some of his Mt. Dew without asking, and he rolled his eyes and took some sausage bits off her pizza.

Finally, Jesper broke. He had to ask the question. “Kaz, Inej…”

“What?”

Screw it; he was no good at conversational tactics when it wasn’t flirting, annoying, or inspirational. “Are you two dating?”

Neither reacted heavily, although Kaz’s eyes seemed to flash and Inej’s lips pursed the tiniest bit. Kaz continued to eat. “Excuse?”

“It’s just that I feel like we have a right to know what’s up,” Jesper shrugged. “Things have changed recently, we all know it. Sooo…”

            Inej looked up at him, a warning in her eyes. But she wasn’t angry. It was warning him that she was unsure. She didn’t know herself. Jesper knew that much, she told him and Nina after all, but what about Kaz? 

“Jesper, while the interest in noted and I am not particularly mad, I cannot answer that,” she said, biting her lip and glancing at Kaz, who ate like nothing was happening but was watching them all the same, his dark shark eyes staring at them.

Jesper groaned a bit, and then tapped his lips, pointed at the Sun then the ground, tilting his head in a questioning manner. _Have you kissed today?_

Inej raised her arms in an ‘X’ manner, put her hands into the thumbs up pose and gestured back with both of them. _No. Yesterday_.

Nina rolled her eyes, making a praying/pleading sign with her hands, tapped her lips, made a bird with her hands, then pointed at the Sun and then the ground, like Jesper had done. _Please kiss Kaz today._

Inej shrugged, putting her arms out like a scale. _Maybe_.

Jesper and Nina shared a look, then crossed their arms and nodded vigorously. _Definitely._

Inej shrugged without her arms this time, looking away to the side. _Oh, whatever_.

“What are you doing?” Matthias and Wylan asked while Kaz studied them all, his eyes narrowing.

Nina grinned. “Putting the code book I got to use. They have a great signals chapter.”

Kaz tilted his head, scheme face-ing all the way. “I’ll figure it out. X usually means no, and Jesper looked at Inej like he was asking a question, so she answered to what he asked. Nina and Jesper both used the same sign at one point, and the bird thing probably means me,”

Jesper threw a napkin at him. “Oh, leave it alone, Kaz. We’re going to fine tune this all up so that you won’t be able to tell what’s what eventually,”

“I’d like to see you try,” Kaz said.

 Inej bumped him on the shoulder. “We can have our own secrete language if you want,”

“According to the Dregs, we practically already speak in code, so I doubt we need it,” He answered.

Inej pouted at him, and he sighed. “Maybe,”

Seriously, that girl could make him do anything.

 

* * *

 

 

“I said no, I’m saying no, I will continue to say no,” Jesper said, annoyed. “Why do you keep asking? I said no to Rudy Steiner on the soccer team. I said no to the baseball captain, Sugino-something or-other. I said no to Tyson Jackson from the swim team. And now I’m doing it to you. I’m not joining a sport.”

A boy from the Half-Bloods, under the Apollo section, groaned. Jesper didn’t know his name, just that he was one of Will Solace’s friends. “But c’mon, Fahey, we _need_ you on the team.”

Jesper couldn’t help but glare. “You do just fine without me,”

Frank Zhang, a senior under the Roman sector, Mars section of the Half-Bloods, looked at him apologetically. “Sorry, Jesper. We were just really hoping you could join. You would be amazing on the court. If you ever change your mind, tell us, you’ll be on the team in a second.”

That exactly what the soccer team had said. And the baseball team. And the swim team.

“I won’t,” Jesper said. “Sorry, but I’m seriously not interested in joining a sport. See you guys’ around,”

He left, feeling far more irritated then he should, but it was around the 15th official time he had been asked to join the team.

He wasn’t a basketball player, even with his height. He liked aiming and throwing things, and he sometimes played with Matthias or even Kaz. He wasn’t a soccer player ( **people get this confused? It’s the one with the black and white ball on the floor** ) despite his long legs, but he did like to run and kick things, and Inej was a pretty great person for one vs. one. He wasn’t a baseball player, even if he did have a good arm and legs. He like being batter while Nina was pitcher at the park occasionally, but had no further interest. He wasn’t a swimmer with his lean stature and long limbs. He simply liked to mess around at the pool, splash Wylan A.K.A the fish, and float on his back making silly poses. He simply just wasn’t into sports. His body was made for them, but he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about any of ‘em.

His favorite sport was probably football ( **mentioned earlier in the FF, but the one with the brown pointy-sphere ball and helmets** ), because it had been his father’s favorite too, and he’d never get recruited into the team. He was too skinny, and he was more than okay with that.

He’d actually considered dancing before, with Inej and Wylan, and he was seeing about maybe joining the cooking club with Nina. And Matthias, when there wasn’t football season, was in the sowing/knitting club, which Jesper was not too bad at. He would much rather those things to any sports. They were something he liked, even if his body seemed to dictate that he should do something else with his limbs.

Jesper liked his structure just fine. It made him stand out, made him unique, and it reminded him of his mother. Sure, he didn’t have her elegant walk and soft footsteps, but he made use of the legs he’d inherited from her, waltzing and strolling and sauntering and ambling about. It was fun. And he was taller than everyone, even a tiny bit more than Matthias now, despite the blond boy being older. Jesper pretty much loved himself, even if his extra energy, powers, and gambling addiction pushed him around pretty often. He was fond of himself though.

He hurried through the hallways, wanting not to get late to Wylan’s choir practice. He nodded at Karma Akabane and Nagisa Shiota, the former beating up a pudding haired boy. Karma smiled at Jesper, then knees the victim in the stomach while Nagisa just sort of stands there. He passed by Rin Okumura, who grinned at him and gives him a high five, and then a small girl named Taiga who looks like a doll. She glared at him, but she’s wasn’t really mad. Jesper used to help her in her classes when she couldn’t reach stuff before. Another girl called Yona berated her friend Hak, waving at Jesper as he sped up.

It was funny, how many people he knew as acquaintances and friends, yet how many of them weren’t all that close to him. He wondered how he got around to knowing so many people.

His nerves were still a bit jittery and annoyed, so he started to pretty much run down the hallway. He knew what he needed. A few dozen voices singing a beautiful melody. A pretty tune to soothe him. Wylan’s own voice reaching out to him, exquisite and wonderful and amazing.

He ran to Wylan’s practice.

* * *

 

The boys all jumped when the door busted open. Kaz was (bored) writing an assignment, Matthias was (bored) doing pushups, Wylan was (bored) sketching something, and Jesper was (bored) eating half their kitchen. Since Jesper had picked up Matthias from practice, an extremely gloomy atmosphere had descended upon the males of the house.

It was like a million lights went on when Inej and Nina came in, but they hardly paid them any attention, instead stripping of their Winter clothing, tackling the radio, then putting it onto their favorite station. The two girls grabbed each other and began to dance happily.

Wylan got up to close the door, eyes wide as Nina dipped Inej and brought her back up. Inej twirled her older friend, both of them giggling.

“I’m guessing it went well?” Kaz asked from the couch.

Nina shrieked weirdly, and they all jumped, except Inej, who just nodded encouragingly.

“You have _no_ idea how amazing that place is!” the Heartrender yelled excitedly, practically lifting Inej. “I mean, the people were so nice! We met this girl, Blake Belladonna, she practically runs the place although she’s not the actual manager. And there was this cute couple, Eleanor and Park? They work there every so often, they specialize in comic books. And my goodness, you know how I’m going to be the barista? They let me try some of their coffee,”

Nina sighed wistfully. “ _It was so damn good_ ,”

Inej sighed alone with her. “The _cookies_ though, were amazing. And I swear to all the Saints, the chairs in that place? I might fall asleep while working because they are _com-fy_ ,”

Nina gasped. “The lounge,”

The girls clasped each other, hearts practically coming out their eyes. “It was _beautiful_ ,” they whispered.

“Saints,” Jesper said, staring at the two girls. “You’d think they’ve died and gone to Heaven the way their acting,”

“Heaven includes the rest of you guys with us, and the books store doesn’t have you there, so no, no Heaven,” Inej said.

They all smiled a bit.

“Oh, but you aren’t allowed to even try and get recruited. We ban you,” Inej added.

…

“So anyway,” Jesper said. “Does this mean that we get discounts? Wylan and I for being your friends, and Matthias and Kaz for being your…well, boyfriend when it comes to Nina, important thing when it comes to Inej?”

“I am going to ignore that last part,” Kaz said.

Inej rolled her eyes, raising her hands into the air as she and Nina danced, swaying energetically their bodies to a song that went _I think I’ve finally found my hallelujah! I’ve been waiting for this moment…Good to be alive, right ‘bout now!_

“And how was the driving?” Kaz asked, speaking what had been on everyone’s mind. Except possibly Kaz’s own, because he was trying, and failing, to not stare at Inej dancing. Jesper almost giggled.

Inej’s face darkened comically as she sat next to Kaz and swatted him on the arm. “Everything was just—”

“Hilarious.” Nina broke in, lowering the radio a bit and sitting near Matthias, who was getting up and putting on a shirt. Nina took it from him and didn’t let him put it on. He rolled his eyes, pink. “The best thing ever, honestly.”

“Do tell,” Jesper leaned in.

Inej groaned, burying her face into her pillow.

Nina started, eager. “Okay, so on the way there, there was this car in front of us, and it was going a bit slow, I’ll grant Inej that much, and she didn’t like it, so she sped at it and it spun around to avoid being wrecked, and then it was just spinning like crazy and causing a jam behind us. Then, like 15 minutes later, we caught up to a different traffic jam, which drove Inej crazy, she honked for like a whole minute continuously, and then she just veered the car off the road and drove through the fields, like cross-freaking-country or something. Don’t worry there’s only a few scratched. Once we got to the town, she just kind of went everywhere, swerving into the lanes like no one’s business. She scared this poor guys senseless who was walking when the cross-walk light was red, almost ran him over,”

Jesper was already laughing.

“And _then_ ,” Nina continued.

“Spare me,” Inej whispered into the cushion, and Kaz started to slowly pass his hands over her hair, unbraiding the large braid. He managed without taking his gloves off, since the braid was much bigger than the ones he dealt with at the New Year’s performance.

“Nope,” Nina popped the ‘p’. “We took a different route coming back, that’s why we’re late. Anyway, at this intersection there was a red light, and we had been there for like two minutes, and Inej was just super frustrated, so she went into the drive- in of a Burger King,” Nina started to laugh as well, trying to continue the story. “But _she_ _came in from the wrong end_. Literally, there was this car, right, trying to get their order, but then they moved out of the way when Inej just started fucking speeding down the drive-in. And it was just amazing, because I had my window down, and the car kinda speeded unto some grass right next to the BG, and I was able to freaking snatch their order!”

Nina went to look through their clothes, showing the group and empty Burger King bag. “We ate on the way back,”

“Anyway, we came back with mostly no problems except that. Well, she almost ran over a kid on a bike, but she has great control, surprisingly. Just swerving in and out of lanes, great at hairpin turns. So yeah, the kid didn’t die,”

Jesper cackles from the kitchen island. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Look at Inej and tell me I am,” Nina said.

Jesper did, and Inej was hiding behind Kaz’s shoulder, her hair covering her face. “I am never driving again,” she mumbled.

They all laughed, and Jesper almost fell.

That was a good way to end the day.


	14. Power-Pyramid and Texting and Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matthias isn’t as dense as everyone thought he was. Kaz’s Power-Pyramid reveals not-really-surprising things. The group has a group chat. Nina and Inej meet Team RWBY at their first shift. Oh, and Jesper almost gets them killed. He feels sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited! Please comment! Btw, depending on my luck, the V-Day chapter might be late or early, most likely not actually on Valentine's day but I'm trying! Oh, birthdays will be released then too!

**Nina**

( **So, I feel like this is important to point out. I cannot seem to make myself write something from Matthias’s P.O.V. I don’t exactly find it hard to see how he would react to things, or how he speaks, but whenever I try to from his P.O.V, I just can’t. This doesn’t mean I am writing him off, and I’ll attempt to write something for him in the future. For now, I’ll just try to start featuring him more, because I feel like he is lacking attention in the other P.O.Vs. If you have any thoughts on this, please leave them in the comments!** )

Nina jumped up and down in her chair, trying to will the end of the day to come. She was in her second to last class with Inej and Matthias.

“Ugh, I just want to gooooo,” Nina said. “Today’s our first day. We’re gonna have to hurry it up after our last class if we want to get there on time,”

“We just have to beat the train, Nina,” Inej said, tapping her lips with the end of her pen, frowning down at the assignment. “Stop thinking about it and help me figure this problem. I don’t remember half these chemicals,”

“Bio is easy,” Nina said, leaning over her shoulder. “Lookie here, lil’ sis,”

Nina passed her a paper with a list of the chemicals and hormones that could make a person feel happy or elated, or cause the feeling of joy. “Match them up to the situations on the paper. It’s easy,”

“It’s easy when you’re a Heartrender and the chemical knowledge is natural to you,” Inej said. “You might have to learn them, but it comes to you easy. Not me. I’m an acrobat,”

Nina shrugged. She really did love her power. She was tempted to make Inej’s muscles loosen; to release one of the chemicals that so annoyed her. But she had a feeling the Suli girl would not be grateful at the moment. “Sorry?”

“Nah, it’s alright,” Inej said. “It’s not like it’s your fault. Just help me memorize these. Matthias is lucky. He got the easier work sheet,”

Matthias grumbled and looked up. “I’m memorizing like a million muscles. Not easy,”

“The worksheet very clearly states 50, Matthias,” Nina said, poking his side. “Not a million. And all you need is good memory,”

“Whatever, witch,” Matthias grunted.

“There’s the glower,” Inej teased. Nina and hre laughed.

Nina took up her own, considerably less fancy compared to Inej’s, pen, and started to write small abbreviations, acronyms, and little rhymes on the side of Inej’s paper. “So you can remember them. Some of the Heartrenders at the Little Palace and I even made little songs to go along with hand and clapping games.”

Inej shook her head. “I know different knife styles, you know chemicals. We’re even,”

Nina shrugged, popping some toffee into her mouth. “Not really, but whatever. None of us are really even, ever. Kaz is too smart, too brutal. Wylan is too talented and also too precious even if he has quite a bit of backbone. Jesper is too… too Jesper if you get what I’m trying to say, too loyal to us. Matthias here is too faithful to, like, everything he likes, and too strong. You’re too good for us, have too much will to do what’s right. And I’m too… uh… harder to do myself…”

“Demanding and demoralizing?” Matthias said.

Nina gave a little snort. “You mistake me with Kaz. But I suppose that’s true to a certain amount. We’re all too much to ever really be even, is all.”

Inej sighed, then smiled at Nina. “That’s fine by me, sorta. We might not be even, but we’re definitely equals,”

Nina laughed. Matthias shook his head. “Maybe with everyone but Kaz. No one is equal to him. His power-pyramid probably looks something like this:”

Matthias drew a pyramid on the back of his paper, separating it top to bottom into five sections. He labeled the bottom one ‘The World’. Nina giggled. So true. The next one was ‘The Dregs’, then “The Six of Crows”.

Matthias paused, looking at the second-highest section, then smirked. It was an expression that Nina was unused to seeing on his face, but when it was there, it sent shivers down her spine.

Matthias filled in the section, putting in ‘Kaz’.

“What goes on top?” Nina asked. “Pretty sure he thinks himself all-powerful.”

Matthias held up a hand. “Gimme a moment, Nina love,”

He split a triangle-top section, the highest one, into three sideways sections. He filled in the first on with ‘Greed’, the farther one with ‘Money’, and the middle on with ‘Inej’, her name in extremely fancy writing. After a moment, he added a bunch of hearts around it.

Nina bust out laughing. Matthias was such a middle school kid sometimes, especially when it came to teasing, but that was just incredible. “Oh Saints, that’s great, Matthias! So true, so accurate!”

Inej, who had been half-heartedly paying attention while reading the notes Nina wrote for her, looked over to the paper. She read it going bottom to top. At the top, she looked a bit pink. “Matthias! That is… that is… so… ugh!”

She threw a stack of sticky notes at him, and Matthias grinned, swatting them away. “But it is accurate, Wraith.”

“No it’s not!” Inej said. “There is no way that he thinks me more powerful than him!”

“Inej,” Nina said, holding her stomach and trying to get her breath under control. She was glad that their teacher was an old man, sleeping on his desk and paying no one any mind. “Kaz is deadly. He’s strong. Crazy smart. Has dashing good looks, although I personally like blond hair-blue eyes and easy blushers called Matthias. And he’s pretty damn well funded. He’s a monster-demon-killer-thief-swindler. And he practically swoons whenever you smile at him. He falls over himself trying to treat you nicely. He holds your hand. You’ve kissed—“

“They’ve kissed?!” Matthias asked, surprised slapped onto his face.

Nina patted his hand. “Now, don’t go bursting an artery. It’s hard to mend those. But yes, they’ve kissed,”

“Nina!” Inej shushed her, then looked apologetically at Matthias. “Sorry for keeping that stuff from you. I mean, Wylan only knows a bit of what’s up, but you’ve been kinda out of the loops…”

Matthias didn’t even look angry. He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “Demon to demon, like to like. I hadn’t thought you were that far in though. I mean, like, he’s stares at you all the time, and how could I have not noticed your hand holding? Plus, you kissed his cheek in the kitchen a bit ago, and after Nina and I came back from practice, you were sitting right next to him on the couch. You were acting like you were reading an assignment he was writing, but both of you looked a bit rumpled, and you were blushing. Kaz doesn’t really blush, but he did look a bit pinker. I wasn’t sure you were kissing, but I suspected it to a certain extent,”

Nina held up her hands. “WAIT WAIT WAIT back it up! Matthias, you’ve seen her kiss his cheek? And you’ve caught them hand holding? And you saw aftermath of them kissing?!”

“Yeah, like 6 times on the kissing his cheek, maybe 10 on the hand holding,”

Nina knew it was happening, but she hadn’t actually witnessed it. She knew Inej was careful not to do it when people were looking. She’d seen them hold hands like 4 times? Wtf?

Inej was just staring at Matthias. “You noticed all of that and said nothing?”

Matthias rolls his eyes. “It’s not like I’m going to go around yelling it at the top of my lungs. But Kaz and I do have two classes together, which is weird because we’re in different years, but I’m pretty sure he’s hacked stuff. I even have a class with Wylan. I swear, he couldn’t just stop at putting you a year up, Wraith, he just had to put himself up a little too. That stupid _demjin_ —”

“Matthias, focus,” Nina said, tugging on his hair.

“Right. Anyway, I make little quips about it all the time. He glares at me a lot. Punches me in the gut occasionally, but most often he just kinda looks…sheepish? Embarrassed? Can he even look embarrassed? I’m pretty sure his face muscles would just shut down. They wouldn’t even try and make him look that way. I mean, when he smiles really big, like when he’s messing with you, Inej, I get worried his lips will crack or something, since it’s so unused to it. It’s actually happened before, like the first time I ever saw him grin. I made him buy chapstick—”

Inej held her hands up. “Tag that for later, I’m interested on the topic of you making him buy chapstick. Although I am _personally_ aware that he is in no need of it.” She blushed. “Back to how you know and how Kaz has something to do with it,”

Nina nodded vigorously. “Agreed on both parts. Continue,”

Matthias looked at them. “Okay, well, that’s a weird thing to be interested in. But it’s like, super obvious, you know? You are either avoiding looking at each other or just kinda gooping over the other person. As much as you and Kaz are possible of being goop, that is. He looks sort of put off, I guess that’s the closest thing to sheepishness or embarrassment when it comes to Kaz, whenever I mention it. He’s offered up little, but one time this boy in our class, don’t know his name, mentioned Inej to Kaz, saying he thought you were pretty and wanted to ask you out or something. Anyway, the damn idiot made that comment directly to Kaz, not only _sincerely_ but _stupidly_ , and even worse he caught Kaz in a bad mood and Kaz cut off some of his fingers. Mostly on accident. He’d already stabbed the guy in the leg. On purpose. He closed his eyes and let the knife fall, and it cut off his index and middle finger on his left hand I think. So like, he meant to cut something, just not specifically the fingers. Nobody talks about you to Kaz anymore.”

Nina and Inej shared a somewhat disturbed look. “Well… that is a violent reaction,”

“Hardly, considering,” Matthias said.

“Considering what?”

“The other stuff he’s done to people concerning Inej. Remember Oomen? There are others too, I’ve seen him torture like 5 people when it comes to you, but whatever. Plus, I did crack some guys skull when he tried to cut your hair in that fake hostage situation, Nina,” Matthias doodled on his paper. “And Jesper did shoot a guy in the head after said guy had insulted Wylan’s … everything. I mean, seriously, that rant did a number on the kid. We were all after the guy, and Jesper asked me to help him in disposing the body.”

Matthias shrugged.

After a few more moment, Nina realized something. “OH SAINTS. Okay, so, like, think about this. I’ve gone after the girls that have flirted with Matthias a ton of times. I mean, I’ve only killed one, and that was mostly on accident, but I have pretty much caused permanent damage to them all. And Wylan did end up pushing Kuwei into the lake with the crocodiles, then left the boy to die. Kuwei was lucky that Matthias and I were there to help him out. All of us have done something…slightly homicidal and more than a bit deranged and way out of proportion considering the situation… in order to stop people from taking our loved ones away. And if you look at the numbers, that means that Inej probably has done something like that for Kaz, which proves what I was talking about at Christmas and them having a more-than-a-bit-bloody weird relationship thingy going on!”

Nina clapped her hands excitedly, then realized everyone in the class, except the still-sleeping Professor, was staring at her, looking more than slightly disturbed. She glared at them violently, raising her hands in what they knew was a threat. Not all of them knew she was a Heartrender. Actually, most of them didn’t. But they all recognized that as one of the signature movements Nina made during attacks, because most things _do_ leak in Ketterdam.

They turned away, and Nina turned back to Inej and Matthias, lowering her voice to a more normal level. “So now you have to admit it. It’s way too likely,”

Nina looked at Inej expectantly. “So?”

Inej bit her lip, wrung her hands, then shrugged.

Nina smiled triumphantly. “Speakth,”

Inej blushed. “Well, um. So, like. These two girls. Um. Flirted with Kaz. Like a lot. Um, this was actually some time back, before he and I even moved into the house. It’s not like super horrible or anything, what I did. I didn’t even really realize why I was doing it until a few weeks later. Anyway, so they flirted with Kaz a lot, he played along at the beginning, but then he seemed to get tired of it, tried to brush them off. They gave him their numbers and were pretty much playing up the seductress act and everything. I followed them after they left, right, and found where they were living together. So, for like three weeks I came by at night, around the time they were going to sleep, and started banging things around, switching things around, turning off the lights, randomly screaming, acting like… well, a Wraith. They didn’t know I was there, couldn’t sense me. I terrified them. They moved out. I followed them to their next house, did the same thing for a while. After some time, I realized why I was doing it, you know, jealousy, which was so stupid. I stopped. For the most part,”

“For the most part?” Nina said, leaning in.

“They hadn’t stopped frequenting the Crow Club, and occasionally still tried to get a bit frisky with Kaz, who thought it was hilarious that I always disappeared when they appeared because he just _knew_ somehow, damn him, that I was put off by them, jealous, annoyed, whatever. And whenever they did, I went and ‘haunted’ them for a few nights.”

Nina was surprised that Inej, although there wasn’t apparently any bloodshed, would do something to people who were for the most part innocent. “How did it end?”

Inej shrugged. “In the end, someone realized they actually talked to Kaz somewhat, and hired them to kill him. I saw them put something into his drink. He had stalked off somewhere, annoyed with them because seriously, they never gave up. He actually considered killing them a few times. Anyway, before the girl poisoning his drink had even put the flask down, she was dead. I killed her. The other girl I knocked out and Kaz had me interrogate her. I didn’t torture her, mind you. She gave the details up pretty freely. Kaz killed her in the end though, because even after everything, she freaking batted her eyelashes at him and asked if he would forgive her for some ‘service.’”

Never mind on the bloodshed thing.

Nina grinned. “See, you _would_ do some _hiss hiss_ ,”

Inej pouted. “Whatever, Nina.”

Matthias shook his head. “We’re all horrible,”

“He has finally moved to accepting that he himself has also done bad deeds!” Nina said. “I’m impressed.”

Matthias huffed, rolling his eyes. “I am much better than you people,”

“How so?”

“I don’t force people to only eat waffles for breakfast for a whole month,”

“IT WAS AMAZING!”

“Nina, we were sick for weeks,” Inej said.

Nina sniffed, turning her head. “Weaklings.”

Inej looked at Matthias. “Question for you,”

“What?”

“Could you tell how Kaz felt? Before the bigger hints?”

“Of course,”

Nina blinked. “I mean, it’s pretty obvious, but I honestly always considered you a bit dense when it comes to this stuff. Don’t know why, I just did,”

Matthias laughed lightly. Nina felt fondness bloom in her chest. She was so glad he now smiled, laughed, enjoyed himself, all while being able to hold her hand and take part of her life, not as her killer but as her lover. “Nina, dear, I know what it feels like to try and hide affection, to feel like you shouldn’t love someone, but you know you do anyway. To feel like you are drowning in a person,”

He held her hand as he said it. Nina could see Inej give a little swoon from the corner of her eye. Nina felt herself blush. “Oh,”

Inej looked a bit like she wanted to squeal and wave a ‘Matthias x Nina’ flag over her head. She also looked very sorry to cut the moment short. “Wait, so are you saying Kaz and I look like that?”

Matthias grinned (which was adorable in Nina’s opinion), but there was a bit of a tilt to it, which he got whenever he messed with Kaz. “Yeah, you guys do. Or did, considering you’re moving forward. Mostly Kaz though. _Especially_ in the drowning department,”

He laughed a bit. “Kaz is head over heels for you, Wraith. He would burn the world down for you. I would do it for Nina, Nina for me, Jesper for Wylan, and Wylan for Jesper. But…”

Nina was very happy that he had enough faith in her to believe she would do something like that for Matthias. She would. But the ‘but’ was interesting. “But?”

“We would all try to rebuild the world if our partners asked, but Kaz, who is strictly against rebuilding what he destroys, would not only rebuild the world to be exactly how you want it, Inej, but build up a bridge to your Saints and your Heaven for you to live as a Queen. He would let you live as a deity, and leave himself on the ground, like a peasant, if you wanted him to.”

They all sat quietly for a moment, contemplating what they would do for their loved ones. Thinking about Kaz, the deadliest person in Ketterdam, possibly Kerch, the killer and thief and monster, and what he would do to keep Inej, his Wraith Queen, happy.

“Saints,” Inej and Nina said at the same time.

Matthias nodded. “Djel would probably love Kaz if he wasn’t so… Kazzy.”

“I’m so totally calling him that,” Nina pointed out.

Inej looked dazed. Goopy. She was gripping one of her special pens to her chest, her other hand fluttering over the place Nina knew Inej kept Sankt Petyr.

“Well, it looks like Inej is in _looove_ ,” Nina teased, leaning against Matthias. “With the Bastard of the Barrel, no less,”

Inej blushed. “I don’t… I mean, it’s like, well…”

Matthias just shrugged. “It’s about time she caught up to Kaz on that matter,”

Inej’s whole face went red.

 

* * *

 

 

Nina tapped her hands impatiently, waiting for Inej. She stepped from foot to foot outside the Suli girl’s last class, tying and retying her scarf around her neck. She’d managed to escape her last class early, and was now waiting for the official release of the other students.

Nina sat on the floor of the hallway, looking through the purse Kaz had gifted her, then grabbed her phone. She had taken a picture of the Power-Pyramid of Le Kaz, as she had had Matthias title it on the page. She also had him sign it on the bottom before taking a picture, then posting in on the group chat, recently renamed Six of Crows.

The conversation was something like this:

 

**_ HeartWrencher _ ** **_uploaded image._ **

****

**_ AmbleGamble _ ** **_and Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! are on._ **

****

**AmbleGamble – Oh Saints that is so true. When did you guys make this?**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – I can’t read that. Type it out so I can have the thing read it out to me please?**

**HeartWrencher – No prob. It’s called Power-Pyramid of Le Kaz. Levels are: The World, The Dregs, The Six of Crows, Kaz, and the tiny ones on top are Greed, Inej + lots of hearts, and Money.**

**HeartWrencher – Oh, and Jesper, we made it during my and Matthias and Inej’s Bio class.**

**AmbleGamble – I love it.**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Oh Saints I’m dying. Have the others seen it yet?**

**_ ArticWolfSoldier _ ** **_is on._ **

**ArticWolfSoldier – You are all so lucky that I have this thing on vibrate. And seen what?**

**ArticWolfSoldier – Oh that. I made it, Wylan. I call copyright rights. Trademark.**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Okay then dot dot dot. I hate having to spell that out. Has Kaz seen it?**

**_ Knives _ ** ** ≈ _Flowers_ ** **_is on._ **

****

**Knives≈Flowers – WHY IS THIS VIBRATING SO MUCH**

**Knives≈Flowers – Oh**

**HeartWrencher – Aren’t you going to get in trouble with Prof. Chase?**

**Knives≈Flowers – No, she’s out today, but Kaz wants to know what’s up. He says he’s too lazy to get on himself, but I’m not letting him see the screen.**

**Knives≈Flowers – Oh shoot he’s getting on damn it fudge.**

**AmbleGamble – Take cover!**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Abort!**

**ArticWolfSoldier – Retreat!**

**HeartWrencher – Hide!**

**Knives≈Flowers – Why are all of you saying that yet none of you are getting off?**

**AmbleGamble – Cuz**

**_ Bastard_of_the_Barrel_30 _ ** **_is on._ **

****

**Bastard_of_the_Barrel_30 – …**

**Bastard_of_the_Barrel_30 – 1. Matthias is an idiot. 2. You can’t really hide what you’ve already written so what’s the point of the retreat calls? 3. The Pyramid, although very dumbly named, is accurate.**

**_ Bastard_of_the_Barrel_30 _ ** **_left._ **

**ArticWolfSoldier – …**

**AmbleGamble – …**

**Knives≈Flowers – …**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Dot dot dot.**

**HeartWrencher – …**

**Knives≈Flowers – Well now this is awkward.**

**HeartWrencher – Like in general, or on your side?**

**Knives≈Flowers – Both?**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Did he just**

**AmbleGamble – I think he did.**

**ArticWolfSoldier – At the possible risk that I might sound like a crazy teenage girl, sorry, but OH MY GOD HE JUST ADMITTED THAT INEJ IS ABOVE HIM AND THE HEARTS ARE TRUE AND AHH *squeal***

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Um, I think Math kill us just had a fan boy attack.**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Math kill us.**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Meth release. What even is this?**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Matt is us?**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Fuck this voice recorder thing.**

**AmbleGamble – Someone has an emotional boo-boo. Want me to kiss it better?**

**Knives≈Flowers – Jesper, that is borderline disgusting.**

**Knives≈Flowers – And according to Matthias, which is what I assume Wylan met to say, I’m goopy.**

**HeartWrencher – Talking about you being goopy, how’s Kaz?**

**Knives≈Flowers – I’m probably not supposed to put this on the group chat. Oh well. He won’t look at me. But he also not walking away or killing anybody, which is a good sign.**

**ArticWolfSoldier – *squeal***

**HeartWrencher – There is something wrong with my boyfriend. Someone broke him.**

**AmbleGamble – Kissing does indeed make the merchling happy. And Kanej is lethal in high doses. Matthias overdosed.**

**ArticWolfSoldier – *squeal* *dies***

**HeartWrencher – Not that I think he’s actually dead, but I’m actually starting to get worried.**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Shut up Jell-O. I literally said Jell-O because it won’t take your name. It keeps saying Jasper. And why are you worried, Knee nah?**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Saints. This thing is stupid. Sorry, N.**

**Knives≈Flowers – Oh my fudging Saints.**

**Knives≈Flowers – Guys I’ve got to go.**

**Knives≈Flowers – Kaz is… Kaz is… I’ll show you guys later…**

**_ Knives _ ** ** ≈ _Flowers_ ** **_left._ **

****

**HeartWrencher – Wtf?**

**ArticWolfSoldier – I’m confused.**

**AmbleGamble – Matty came back to life. And I’m also confused. What did Kaz do?**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Kill someone?**

**HeartWrencher – I’m outside their classroom. I don’t hear any screams.**

The bell rang, starling Nina. She picked herself up and pressed herself against the wall, readying for the sea of students that were about to exit down the hall. She hoped Inej and Kaz wouldn’t take too long.

 

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Talk to you guys in a bit.**

**ArticWolfSoldier – Okay**

**AmbleGamble – Literally right next to you, Wylan, but okay.**

**HeartWrencher – T T Y L**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – Thank you for spreading the letters out this time so I can read them. It took me a while to figure out W T F and the thing couldn’t read it.**

**HeartWrencher – No prob. See you guys after work.**

**_ ArticWolfSoldier,  AmbleGamble _ ** **_and Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! left._ **

****

Nina left the chat herself and watched the flurry of students she had been expecting pass by her. They all moved and ran toward the ducks, like dogs getting free of their kennels, which was accurate enough. Most of them had cleared out by the time Professor Chase’s classroom was dismissed.

Inej and Kaz were among the last to walk out. They were holding hands, but Kaz’s face, usually angled with his chin straight so he could see everything in front of him, was facing down. He was nervous. Or shy. Or something. Could Kaz even be shy?

Inej motioned for Nina to follow with her free hand. “C’mon, Nina,”

“What happened?” Nina asked.

“Nothing,” Kaz mumbled. Saints, wtf, Kaz does not mumble.

Inej bit her lip and shrugged at Nina. _Later_ she mouthed.

Nina nodded, curious. If Inej was willing to tell her, it meant Kaz hadn’t banned it as something she was not allowed to talk about. He had lots of boundaries, and Inej acknowledged and respected most of them.

Nina glanced at Kaz, trying to see his face, but he walked faster. And yet…

Was that a dash of pink on his face? Or was Nina just imagining it? Kaz didn’t blush. She doubted it was even part of his whole Dirtyhands thing. He probably was just not a blusher. She had only seen him with the lightest, most pale shade of pink in his cheeks, excluding the times when his cheeks went red thanks to the cold nipping at him. But full-out blushing, Wylan and Matthias edition, was a flat out no. Sure, it was just a simple pink, but more than what she was used to on his face. It would have been completely normal on someone else...

“Kaz, are you blushing?”

“No,” he said it calmly, in his usual voice, but all Nina had to do was extend her hand, flex her power, and feel the movement of blood across his body, a bit more than usual focused on his cheeks.

_The Saints and all their mothers._

Nina was pretty sure she was witnessing an important historical event.

What did he do? What did Inej do? Why was Kaz freaking Dirtyhands Brekker flushing?

She stared at Inej, who shrugged. They stepped out onto a cold, headed towards the car, and piled into it. Jesper was waiting for them. He’d drive Kaz home and drop him off, then Inej and Nina to the light rail, then drive back for Wylan’s practice. He was the best choice when it came to getting places fast.

When they reached the house, Kaz was about to get out from the passengers’ seat. His face had calmed down quickly right before getting into the car at school, so Jesper had only witnessed the barest dusting they were slowly getting more accustomed to. When they reached the house, Kaz simply said ‘bye’ and moved out of the car, entering the house quickly.

“Okay…” Nina started after Jesper started to drive them to the station. “What was that all about?”

Jesper glanced from the road, looking behind him at Inej and Nina. Nina noticed Inej was smiling stupidly. “Kaz was pink. I’m assuming that’s what you mean?”

“Yeah. He was even pinker when I saw them when class was over.”

Jesper’s eyes widened. “What? The only time I’ve ever seen his face red is when it’s covered in blood.”

They both looked at Inej, who dazed back at them happily. “Hmm?”

“Kaz blushy blushy what the fucky? Oh, and it wasn’t really red, Jes, just bright pink,” Nina asked, going simple for the sake of the Suli girl, who looked like she couldn’t form any coherent thoughts.

Inej pinked herself, still smiling, but starting to look sheepish. “Um,”

  
“Inej, it can’t be as bad as Jesper’s BDSM stories,” Nina said.

Jesper coughed. “Let’s not focus on that,”

Inej nodded. “No BDSM please,”

Nina gave a snort. “You’re the one in the majorly Yandere relationship that goes both ways,”

“I don’t even like Yanderes! They are evil!”

 

( **Yandere is like someone who loves you but has a really messed up fucking obsession with killing and harming and obliterating anyone who gets close to you. It’s so bad that they can’t even stand you being with family members or people even looking at you. Messed up.** )

 

Nina shrugged. “Minor-ish Yandere-ism is still part of your relationship. Anyway, tell, please?”

Inej sighed, glancing between her and Jesper’s hopeful expressions. “Kissed him,”

“In class? On the mouth?”

“On the cheek. There was barely anybody there anyway, and the ones who were, were all messing with the subs’ machines. Yeah, by the way, the sub was Leo.”

“Who even though that was a good idea? Anyway, you’ve kissed him before, why is this any different?” Nina asked.

“Well I mean, he was already sort of blushing, like lightly. Embarrassed about admitting the thing about the Pyramid. I’m pretty sure he didn’t even mean to admit it.”

“JESPER!” Nina yelled suddenly.

“Oh!” Jesper spun the wheel violently, avoiding running into a car and killing them all.

Their car spun around a few times on the street as Jesper tried to get control over the car again. Nina yelled as she was thrown against the door. Inej’s stuff fell onto the floor, and Jesper cursed violently as he turned the wheel around the other direction, making them come to a jarring stop.

Cars beeped continuously behind them. Jesper cursed as Inej helped Nina up. Inej had been choked by her seatbelt, being tiny in the seat, and there was a violent red line across her throat. Jesper pressed the gas pedal, and they moved into one of the exits, heading towards the station.

Nina breathed in deeply, massaging her hurt arm.

Jesper was muttering violently under his breath. He looked at them through the mirror, looking extremely sorry. “Guys, I’m sorry, I mean I didn’t mean to I should have been paying attention Saints are you okay Nina? Inej your throat—”

Inej held up her hand, stopping him from speaking. “Stop. Just stop for a moment. Nina, arm?”

“It’s fine,” Nina said. “Bruised. I can heal it easy,”

“Good,” Inej said, rubbing her hand on her throat, coughing a little.

“Want me to heal that to?” Nina asked.

“Do yourself first. Thank goodness you saw the car, Nina, or we might be dead,”

Jesper looked down like a scolded child, keeping his eyes on the road like he should have done. She felt a bit like shaking him.

Nina sighed, flexing her hands over her arm, slowly stopping the bleeding under her skin and making the bruise disappear. Still hurt though, like a phantom pain. She held up her hand, mending the scratched skin on Inej’s throat and evening the girl’s rapid breathing. Thank the Saints that nothing worse had happened. The seat belt could have done much more damage.

She helped Inej grab her stuff from the floor. Jesper tried to apologize again, but Nina cut him off in an _admittedly_ curt response. “Jesper, we know you didn’t mean to do it. But watch out, would you? We’re trusting you with our lives by going into the car with you driving. You can’t just not pay attention.”

They stepped out of the car at the station.

Jesper bit his lip, tapping his sides, running a hand through his hair, tapped his feet, his eyes shifting around guiltily. “I’m sorry,”

Inej held his hand for a moment, giving it a squeeze then letting go. “This action will have no echo, remember?”

Jesper gave her a wan smile. “Still sounds better in Suli. You guys better go buy your tickets. I am sorry though,”

He walked back to the car.

Nina didn’t know what that was about.

“Nina, I’ll tell you the rest on Kaz on the train,”

Nina blinked. Tickets. “Yeah, okay. Sure you okay?”

Inej held Nina’s hand. “Fine,”

 

* * *

 

 

“These uniforms are the best,” Nina said, twirling around in a black skirt and passing her hands over her soft white shirt, which was a polo one yet still managed to look cute.

Inej smiled. She was wearing a black polo with white pants that left the top of her ankles exposed. The normal clerks wore the opposite colors of the baristas. She could have chosen a white skirt, but had said no when it was offered. “It does look good on you. You’re rocking it.”

“Aww, thanks,”

Blake was waiting outside the changing room. She gave the girls a one over, then gesture for them to follow her.

They walked around as Blake reminded them of some of the things they were supposed to remember. She gave short sentences and seemed introverted, but not exactly standoff-ish.

“You guys remember the practice stuff we talked about, right?” Blake asked.

Nina nodded. “Yeah. We’re just going to watch today, help out our next shift, and do it by ourselves the shift after that,”

Blake confirmed that. “Nina, you’ll be with Qrow, that weird drunk guy over there,”

She pointed at a man with spiky black hair wearing some fancy/casual weird white shirt and black pants. Some girl dressed like a punk Little Red Riding Hood was trying to put a cape around his shoulders.

“Alright,” Nina said, raising an eyebrow at a makeshift sign above the words ‘Café’. Somebody had put ‘The Crow-Bar’ on top. “I can work with that. Is he really drunk though?”

A blond girl who was pushing a cart with cups on it passed by them. “Uncle Qrow is always drunk. Hi, by the way. I’m Yang. Another barista. Little Red over there is my sister, Ruby.”

Inej tilted her head in greeting. “I’m Inej. She’s Nina,”

They didn’t react to the names like most people would, and Nina actually found herself thanking Kaz for making them work in a town some time away from Ketterdam. They could be normal here.

“Cool,” Yang said, tying her hair back into a ponytail. _Goldilocks_ , Nina thought.

She wondered if they were in a gang. Ketterdam wasn’t the only city with crime, although it was definitely the one with the most crime, the most infamous for its evil deeds.

A girl with white hair, Nina wondered if it was Tailored, appeared from nowhere. She wasn’t wearing the uniform. “Ruby, have you seen the text book I was asking for?”

“No!” Ruby called back.

Blake sighed and told the white-haired girl that it was in some random section Nina didn’t quite catch. “That’s Weiss. We take care of most things here, but Eleanor and Park also come, and a ton of some kids from a Half-Blood thingy work Fridays and weekends, as you know. You guys know Miss Annabeth and Miss Piper; you talked to them last time. Inej, you’ll be with me and Ruby. Yang, help Nina out.”

Weiss gave Inej and Nina a once over and shrugged. “Who are you?”

Inej shrugged back. “I’m Inej Ghafa, she’s Nina Zenik. You’re Weiss?”

“Yeah, Weiss Shnee. You guys know Blake Belladonna, and Ruby is Ruby Rose. Yang’s Yang Xiao Long,” she waited to see if they reacted to their names. When they didn’t, Weiss shrugged again. “Welcome to Beacon’s Bookshop, Library, and Café.”

“Do you work here?” Nina asked.

Yang snorted. “Only when she feels like it,”

Weiss glared at her. “Hey!”

“It’s true, Ice Queen,”

_Snow White?_

Weiss rolled her eyes. “My shifts are just at a different times that yours,”

Blake sighed. “You guys have this argument so many times. Get to work,”

The girls complained, then went their own ways.

“C’mon,” called Yang. “Time to see how you handle the company,”

Nina followed, leaving Inej with Blake as Ruby came over to her.

These people were weird.

 

* * *

 

 

A group of kids dressed in badass black outfits came in. Nina actually knew some of them. “Oh hey, Isabelle.”

“Nina!” Izzy smiled, letting go of some boy, Simon Lewis, to greet her. “You work here now?”

“Yup. Inej is right over there,” Nina said, pointing across the room.

Simon and the other boys from the dance class along with a red haired girl, Clary, all waved at Inej. Inej smiled from where she was watching Blake handle a group of students and waved back.

“So what are you guys doing?” Nina asked.

Jace Herondale, who was _hot_ but not Nina’s style, shrugged. “Usual Shadowhunter gang business. The Clave is driving us crazy with their whole Downworlder prejudice lately.”

The Shadowhunters was a worldwide community/gang who was constantly fighting the Downworlder people, who were also worldwide. The Clave was a group of annoying Shadowhunter higher ups. Nina actually suspected there was something out of the ordinary with the Shadowhunters. They were not really human, or Grisha. It reminded her of the Half-Bloods, most of which were Grisha who were apparently injected with _parem_ , now a safe drug. But there were some things she’d seen the Half-Bloods do which were just weird, not possible.

Like Nico di Angelo’s powers…

Nina shook her head, and watched as Qrow took their orders and typed them into a screen, then as Yang prepared everything extremely quick.

The Shadowhunters bid their goodbyes and went on their way, talking about their knives, Seraph blades. There was definitely something surreal about them…

 

* * *

 

 

 Nina glanced at Inej as the younger Suli girl grabbed a large stack of books for Blake easily and lifted them onto a cart. Blake and Ruby looked at her, impressed. Nina gave a little snort. Inej was stronger than she looked.

“So who are you?” Qrow said. “Nina, I got that part. But you know those Shadow guys from Ketterdam. You from there?”

Nina moved a chair behind him, scared he would fall. “Yeah, I’m from Ketterdam…”

“You in a gang?”

“Who isn’t?” Yang said, nodding at Nina gratefully for setting the chair precaution. “Everyone in that city is in a gang or is connected to one. I mean, _we’re_ a gang,”

“Really? What are you?” Nina asked.

“H&H,” Yang said. “Hunters and Huntresses.”

“Huh,” Nina said. She wasn’t familiar with the gang. “Do you guys have a tattoo?”

Yang shook her head. “Nah. We just use identifiers and acronyms. We use our house symbols too. They’re made in a similar fashion, so it isn’t hard for a practiced eye to figure out what’s H&H or not,”

“Ah,” Nina said. “Every gang in Ketterdam has a tattoo. You have to take a tattoo,”

_Unless you’re Inej. She still hasn’t taken the Dregs tattoo…_

Qrow fell backwards, luckily into the chair. “And your gang?”

Nina shrugged. “We’re just another gang…”

_We’re the Kings and Queens of the Barrel._

“What’s it called?” Yang asked.

Nina shrugged. “Sorry, it’s just weird to talk to people who don’t know our gang. All gangs know each other in Ketterdam,”

Yang shrugged as well, and went to do something in the backroom. Qrow rubbed a tired hand over his face. Suddenly, his eyes focused on something behind Nina, surprisingly clear. “When did you show up?”

Nina turned, and almost choked when she saw Inej. “Saints, Inej! You scared me!”

Inej grinned at her. “Sorry. Habits are hard to break,”

“Once a Wraith, always a Wraith,” Nina joked.

“Waaaiiiiiiit,” Qrow mumbled, squinting at Inej, then Nina. “Nina… Inej… Ketterdam…Wraith…”

He groaned and leaned back in his chair. “You two are here just for the job, right? Not  _a_ job?"

“Yeah. We want to make some extra money,” Inej said, skeptical of Qrow.

Nina bit her lip.

Qrow sighed. “You guys are totally the girls from the Dregs, aren’t you? Inej Ghafa…Nina Zenik…” Qrow mumbled. He sat up again, looking at the girls seriously. “Don’t do anything bad, okay?”

“Not planning on it,”

Qrow shrugged. “Do your work, don’t go Dreggy on us, and all is good,”

“Are you gonna tell? We don’t really want it out there,” Nina told Qrow.

“Don’t mess anything up, and you’re good,” the man said, then passed out with a last call of, “I want coffee after I wake up,”

Nina and Inej looked at each other and shrugged. If Qrow wasn’t going to tell, then, well, what were they supposed to worry about?

It was nearing 8, their shifts nearly over. Yang took over taking the orders, while starting to coach Nina on the drinks. Inej went back to helping Blake, who needed her to write down a few books as the Shu girl listed them off.

 

* * *

 

 

Inej stretched as they left the bookshop. “That was interesting,”

“Really weird,” N.

“Somewhat confusing.” I.

“Sort of awkward.” N.

“Surprisingly diverse.” I.

The two girls looked at each other and smiled. “Sooooo easy compared to usual.”

Inej laughed and twirled in the darkness half-heartedly. “The air is so much fresher here,”

“Now, don’t start thinking about leaving us all behind in Ketterdam and moving here!” Nina joked.

“Nah, we have a good house, and it’s not like the air is horrible or something, not anymore,” Inej said. “Plus, I would never leave you behind,”

“Or Jesper, or Matthias, or Wylan, or Kaz,” Nina said. “Little, shy, ‘oh-Saints-I-just-admitted-I-practically-worship-her’ Kaz Brekker.”

“Nina!” Inej said, playfully pushing Nina, her breath swirling into steam above her as they walked a few blocks to the train.

“What? I mean, you kissed him in class because he admitted that the Pyramid was true, and he blushed over it. Kaz is still terrifying, but that’s kinda cute, his reaction,”

Inej shrugged, then pulled Nina to hurry it up. “Don’t wanna miss the train,”

“You’re right,”

The girls hurried to the station, getting there just as their train arrived. They hoped on. Their tickets going both ways, they didn’t have to purchase new ones.

Nine sighed into her chair. “It feels weird to have done normal, good work,”

“Yeah,” Inej said, settling next to her. “I hope that everything is good at home.

 

* * *

 

           

Matthias picked them up. Apparently, Kaz almost killed Jesper by pushing him down the stairs (because 1. He wanted to, 2. Jesper told him what happened), Wylan blew up the kitchen, and Matthias was forced to eat a bottle of hot sauce.

In addition to that:

Part of Wylan’s hair was dyed blue in little droplets from some weird chemical he’d spilled, Jesper had war-paint on his bare chest, Kaz was throwing out every lemon inside the house out from the second floor window (Jesper put a bunch of lemon juice in his drink), and Matthias had punched not just one, not two, but three holes through the wall. Kaz also made a presentation, which was projected on the wall of the living room, about why the other boys should all go to Hell. In response, Matthias had thrown an open bottle of baby powder, covering Kaz and the couch.

 The outside of Jesper’s room door had thumbtacks in front of it (courtesy of Kaz), and tinsel had been put above Nina’s doorway and was hanging around the entrance to Inej’s attic. Wylan had somehow managed to flood one of the bathrooms with sparkling orange water, and there was goo of all over the house.

Kaz had at one point punched Matthias in the face, who had a big bruise, and so Matthias had somehow spray painted Kaz’s door pink and thrown a pink glitter bomb inside his room, because he knew that he couldn’t beat Kaz in a fight despite his large stature. Jesper had cheered him on and now had a white flag tapped to his back that said ‘Catch me if you can, I’m the gingerbread man!’

The whole house smelled like boredom, misery, and lots of different chemicals. White smoke was coming from the basement.

The ceiling has been spray painted in red and purple swirls as a declaration that the girls where necessary to their survival. Apparently, it was the only thing all the boys had been able to agree on.

“Fuck you all,” Nina said after having scolded them all greatly, even Kaz, and decided to go to bed. “Clean this mess up. Inej, don’t help,”

Inej stared at their living room, then gave such a ‘Tired, Disappointed Mother-Pursed Lips of Anger’ look at the boys that they all hung their heads. “Wasn’t planning on it. Have fun staying up until 4 a.m., boys. Don’t you dare wake us up. Night,”


	15. We're Rotten To The Core!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a little insight on Wylan’s make-up/hair gifts and how Wylan likes to draw Inej. Nina makes food and tears are shed. Comfort food is made, chocolate milk is drunk, and a movie is played. The crew sings/dances to Rotten to the Core from the movie Descendants (not mine!), and Matthias and Wylan share Kanej-oriented texts. Kaz still doesn’t care that to woo a girl you have to stop cursing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited! Sorry that this is so late, I've been having some problems with availability lately. Updating will get a bit harder, but even if I don't update, I'm still writing, so the chapters are just waiting there. I haven't stopped writing! Please comment!

**Wylan**

 

“This is so different from the last dance,” Wylan said, wiping a towel on his face as they finished practice. The two week break was long over, and the dance group was at it again, 3 weeks into their new dance, already nearing the first completed week of February.

Inej groaned as she stretched her arms over her head. “I know what you mean. There are a lot of rough movements, but its pretty fun. We always do something almost like ballet during the Holidays, but we get back to weird contemporary storytelling dances afterwards. This is  _ contemporary dance _ after all,”

“Mmhmm,” Wylan said. “I like how we start on the floor and have to rise, although it’s surprisingly difficult to lift ourselves in that way,”

Inej took a swig of water as they grabbed their packs and walked out. Not even Jesper was with them that day; he was busy repainting the ceiling white after the boys’ freak-out. Wylan had already cleaned up the bathroom, stopped the smoke, and cleared up the goo. Jesper and Matthias had been in charge of fixing the broken wall, repainting the ceiling, and taking off the tinsel from the walls, most of which had already been done. Matthias also cleaned the baby powder from the couch. Kaz hadn’t let Matthias go inside his room to clean up the pink glitter, but the Fjerdan did repaint Kaz’s door black. Kaz picked up the lemons from the yard and thumbtacks off the floor, and had been forced to apologize to Jesper for pushing him down the stairs and Matthias for punching him. He also had to apologize for the ‘Got To Hell’ presentation.

It had been a few long nights (three) and they still weren’t finished. 

Luckily, the chemicals that had attacked Wylan’s hair and dotted it blue had come off with no problem.

They were so warm from training that the cold didn’t even bother them as they started the walk to the bus to go home. Wylan felt  _ tired _ like all Hell, and he sincerely hoped the ceiling was finished so that he could cuddle with Jesper later. Inej didn’t work on the days they had practice, and Nina only worked when Inej worked, (Tuesdays, Thursdays, although they were considering every other Saturday as well), and they worked from 4:45 p.m. to around 9:45 p.m. Wylan suspected Inej would do something similar to him and go cuddle Kaz. Or kiss, since she had brought him up to date during practice. Needless to say, Wylan had squealed. 

They boarded the bus, paying the fee and going inside. 

“I swear to everything,” Inej mumbled as she grabbed some mint gum from her pack to try to wake herself up. “That I have never been so sleepy,”

“Why?”

“Okay, so I really shouldn’t have, but I stayed up playing online games with Kaz all night,” she yawned. “Since he’s finished with his part of cleaning up the house, he hasn’t been staying up to do that. We started to play Warframe and Overwatch and lost track of time. He was in his room and I was in my room. I just really wanted to beat him,”

Wylan laughed, taking a piece of offered gum. “You two are obsessed with video games.”

“Not so much the video as the games, but yes. It’s fun competition though,” Inej shrugged, popping the gum. “But at least I never bet anything,”

“Like Jesper?” Wylan sighed.

“Like Jesper,” Inej agreed. “Although he is gambling a lot less lately. I suspect that might be because of you though,”

Wylan blushed. “Oh um yeah uh,”

Inej ruffled his hair. “Calm down, Wylan,”

“Ahaha,” Wylan glanced at Inej’s hair. “Hey, can I do a hair style on you?”

Inej shrugged. “Uh, okay? I mean, I’m kinda sweaty right now…”

“Not badly,” Wylan answered. “It’s just that your hair is super good for styling. It doesn’t really curl or get wavy, but it doesn’t fight styling either.”

“Sure, then go ahead,”

She handed her a comb from her bag (do girls just carry combs everywhere?), and he untangled the hair. There were barely any tangles actually in it, but it did neaten it out. People came on and off the bus, watching them oddly, but Wylan barely minded them. 

“Now I get why Kaz is so obsessed with your hair,” he said as the made a small braid and wrapped it around her head, taking a picture. “It’s super soft,”

“Jesper’s super obsessed with your hair too,” Inej mumbled. “He’s always kissing your head and passing his hands through your hair and ruffling it and stuff,”

“Jesper  _ likes _ my hair a lot, but he’s not obsessed with it,” Wylan rebuked. “Kaz just kind of stares at your hair, no matter what hairstyle you have. But he likes it best loose, I can tell,”

“Whatever, Wylan,” Inej said. “He just likes it a bit is all,”  
“Mmhmm,” he said back.

Silence followed for a few minutes and Wylan took out the braid and made a cute top-side bun. He took a picture of that too. 

“You know you’re fun to draw?” he told her.

“I am?”

“Yeah. It’s fun because your hair and eyelashes are super dark, so I use actual  _ ink _ , not just a marker but big/small brushes to color it in. And you have really even eyebrows. And if I draw you with you wearing a braid, there’s almost always a little wisp curling on your forehead, and that’s fun to draw too because it’s just always there,” Wylan said, tying her hair to fall onto her shoulder loose and low, them making a break between the hair above the band and pulling it through, making a twist. Picture.

“Hmm,” Inej said. “I don’t know. I feel like I would sort of fade away if someone were to sit me down and try to draw me.”

“I draw you from memory,” Wylan said. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, like I’d vanish or something,” she admitted. 

“Like you can vanish,” Wylan gave a little snort. “Sorry, but you’re a bit too amazing to disappear. Like, you smile is  _ so _ vibrant. Those are my favorites, when I draw you smiling, but it’s hard to really get the effect.”

“Gah, stop being so adorably nice!” Inej turned around and ruffled his hair with both her hands, laughing. 

Wylan laughed and pushed her away a bit, taking another picture of her smiling. He wondered if he could get Kaz to pay him for all the different pictures he’d taken.

He really was spending too much time with the Bastard of the Barrel…

 

* * *

 

When they got home, Jesper and Matthias had just put away the paint, and their hands and arms were speckled in white. Kaz was on the couch, and Inej had practically collapsed into his arms, curling up instantly. Kaz stared at her for a moment, and looked up at Wylan, questioning. 

Wylan shrugged. “New dance, really tiring, fun though,”

Kaz raised an eyebrow, looking at Inej. “I imagine this also has to do with staying up late?”

“Mmhmm,” she answered, snuggling closer to him. He lifted a corner of the black blanket he’d covered himself with and put it over her small frame, and she sighed peacefully. Like a freaking kitten. She sneezed like one too. 

“Body heat,” she mumbled. “You produce a lot of it,”

“We’ve already gone over how weird a conversation topic that is,” Kaz deadpanned.

Jesper and Matthias and Wylan glanced at each other. What kind of conversations did they have?

Wylan yawned a bit, pulling on Jesper to cuddle as well. Matthias, lonely with Nina at cooking club and having not gone to practice that day, sat on the loveseat by himself, scrolling through his phone. 

Jesper grabbed their blue blanket and some cushions, and they took the other end of the very big couch, Jesper half-laying down and Wylan on top of him like if Jesper were a mattress. 

Jesper passed his fingers through Wylan’s hair, and Wylan grinned. 

Wylan listened to Jesper’s heartbeat until he remembered the pictures. “Oh right,” he said, not lifting himself to look at Kaz. “I did Inej’s hair a few times on the bus. Wanna see her pictures?”

Inej made a little noise of annoyance, but Kaz was petting her head without his gloves (which was a weird sight, considering he rarely took them off unless it was to do something like occasionally touching her), so she didn’t really complain. Wylan and Inej were like a puppy and a kitten, Wylan realized. As long as people they loved were petting them, everything was pretty sweet.

“Sure,” the other boys answered.

Wylan grabbed his phone, going into his gallery and showed Jesper the pictured, who showed them to Kaz, who threw the phone over to Matthias, who threw the phone back to Jesper. 

“You’re really good at this, Wylan,” Matthias pointed out. “How’d you even learn?”

“I used to do Alys’ hair all the time,” Wylan answered sleepily. “And then her makeup too. And sometimes I’d practice on the servants. They really liked it, so I just kept watching videos on it. Well, I usually had to ask for help for someone to pick out the video since I couldn’t read the names, and then I’d replay it like a dozen times till I memorized the whole thing,”

He’d always had fun doing hair and makeup, and he was pretty sure it had nothing to do with dumb gay boy stereotypes. He simply liked it. With a few things, he could highlight all of someone’s best features and give them a completely different look while still keeping what made them  _ them _ . Maybe it had to do with Wylan’s own wish to have his own good features noticed instead of the bad ones his father loved to point out. But he’d rarely ever worked on himself, and when he had it was for practice. And it had made Alys so happy too, he couldn’t resist it. 

“I swear, he’s like a natural at this stuff,” Kaz said. “If you guys would just let me teach him how to pick pockets—”

“Not happening,” they all answered. Well, Wylan didn’t really care. He  _ could _ learn, but it felt unlawful. Then again, his whole new life was unlawful, and he was the demo guy, so he couldn’t really talk…

Kaz grumbled, but Inej just peered up at him, cracking one eye open to roll at him. He rolled his eyes back, but continued to pet her. 

“Adorable,” Jesper claimed.

“Them or me?” Wylan asked, giggling a bit.

“Both!” Jesper said, kissing Wylan. Wylan hummed in pleasure, then pulled away, too tired to really do much. 

“Oh shut up,” Inej said. “Don’t make Matthias lonely without his dear Nina,”

“I am  _ not _ lonely,” Matthias said. “As long as I don’t have to witness Jesper and Wylan making out, I’m fine,”

“Matthias, c’mon, you wanna see me shirtless,” Jesper cooed.

Matthias leveled his steady glare onto Jesper. “No,”

Wylan clung to Jesper childishly. He remembered back when Matthias scared the living Hell out of him, but he was long past that. The two were friends, ganging up together to bring healthy food and proper meals to the other four  _ let’s just get take out(J)/anybody seen my bag(s) of chips?(N)/ I haven’t eaten in three days but whatever(K) / An single orange a day keeps horrible starving death away(I). _ Seriously, none of them were any good at taking care of themselves…

“I’m hurt,” Jesper tells Matthias, pouting excessively. “I have an amazing body. Right Wylan?”

“I am not in a position to disclose that information,” Wylan answered. “So…since Nina is bringing food from club, and we’ll probably be forced to eat it...who wants Mac and Cheese for afterwards? Some comfort food?”

“Me!” Jesper said, almost jumping although Wylan was on top of him.

“Sure. I’ll help if you need it,” Matthias replied, shuddering at the thought of Nina’s cooking.

“Nobody tell Nina I said this, but YES PLEASE cause Saints her cooking is forsaken…” Inej spoke up, looking guilty, but the girl’s self-preservative instinct had to drive her away from the challenge of eating Nina’s food and not looking for something to curl up with and eat for comfort while tears fell down her face. Smart.

“I could just not eat,” Kaz pointed out.

“You’re eating,” Inej said.

“Why?”

Jesper looked at Kaz. “Because, Mr. Brekker, you are not going to leave your crew to suffer at the hands and cooking of one of your own members. You are suffering with the rest of us,”

“I’m the boss,”

“The boss must suffer as his employees do,”

“Part of my job description is  _ employees will suffer in my place _ .” Kaz answered. 

Inej looked up at him. “Then why am I still alive?” She was teasing

Kaz looked at her coolly. He didn’t answer. 

Inej said “Oh,” after a moment, and blushed and looked away. 

Jesper leaned into Wylan. “They are just so adorable,”

“Agreed,”

Jesper looked back up to Kaz. “So, you’re eating.”

“I don’t want t—”

“You’re eating,” Matthias said. He even mothers Kaz.

“But—”

“You’re eating,” Inej shushed him.

Two years ago and Matthias and Jesper would be hanging out of a window while Inej would be ignored and Wylan would be forced to work the whole day. Now, he got the feeling Kaz would be twisting Jesper and Matthias’ arms while holding them in a headlock, and he’d probably ignore Wylan and mess with Inej. He had seriously improved. He sat there looking annoyed.

“HONEYS, I’M HOME!”

Kaz grumbled as Matthias opened the door. “Since when am I a  _ honey? _ The rest of you I get, but not me. Keep me out of the ridiculously sugared names,”

Inej rolled her eyes and Wylan, who stifled a giggle. “We’re all Nina’s honeys. Especially after you got her that purse for Christmas,”

“I should burn it,”

“No you should not,”

“Yes I should,”

“Kaz, it cost money,” Wylan pointed out as Nina leaped up to Matthias and kissed him before even taking off her boots.

“That is a valid point, merchling, but I still want to burn it,” Kaz replied.

“Sooooo…..Guess what I brought~!” Nina asked excitedly as she shed her scarf and coat, coming over to pat still-on-Kaz’s-lap Inej and practically-glued-to-Jesper Wylan. 

Jesper failed to hide a groan, and Wylan swat him playfully. Inej and Matthias swallowed fearfully and Kaz just shrugged. “What?”

“Chicken with rice!” Nina said, holding up the bag. “Cooking class was really fun today. We got to use a ton of different spices and stuff.”

She set the bag on the counter and started opening the large Tupperware containers. Nina’s food always looked fine, smelled fine, looked completely innocent. But the  _ taste _ was  _ horrible _ . 

“I don’t want to hear anything about how horrible my cooking is or how you already ate or already planned dinner or already ordered something or how you just aren’t hungry.”

Those were their usual excuses. Horrible cooking-Jesper. Already planned dinner-Wylan. Already ordered something-Inej. Already ate-Matthias. Not hungry-Kaz (of course). 

Sure, Wylan  _ felt _ bad, but it didn’t make him regret eating it any less.

Nina stacked a ton of food on all their places and handed them out. 

Since the holidays had been cleaned up, as well as the house in general, they were back to eating in their normal places. Jesper, after having to un-cling Wylan from him, sat with Matthias and Kaz (who gently lifted Inej and set her down on the couch) at the kitchen island, and Inej and Nina went onto the coffee table, their legs tucking under it and their backs resting against the couch. Wylan stayed on the couch (his father would faint if he could see him now, Wylan knew. It was a good life he was living now), not scared of dirtying it because he never did.

Simultaneously, the five victims took a breath and ate the first bite. After a few bites, Jesper started to cough, Matthias swallowed with a painful look on his face, and Kaz ate it then downed a whole glass of water, refilled it, and downed it again. Wylan held his nose and ate quickly, a trick he’d learned that made it harder to taste food, but a small inkling of the flavor made him wince all the same. Inej chewed very slowly, trying not to let the disgust show on her face, and finally swallowed. She looked queasy and drank her water, almost choking on it.

Nina ate on. This was one of her  _ better _ dishes, so the others tried not to make too many vocalized complaints.

Kaz was the first to finish (except Nina but she hardly counted), although Wylan had to wonder if he’d actually eaten fast or somehow made the food disappear. Wylan followed him next, washing his plate off with water and set it into the dishwasher ( **because they deserve good things like not doing the dishes** ). Matthias finished a few minutes later, nodding at Wylan to come help him with the comfort Macaroni and Cheese (Kraft), while Inej and Jesper shared a miserable look. 

Jesper usually ate fast, but he always ended up eating Nina’s food incredibly slow, dreading each bite, while Inej seemed to think that if she ate slow enough, Nina would have pity and let her go. It never happened. 

Kaz consoled Inej by handing her a glass of chocolate milk. Him and chocolate, seriously.

Jesper was half slumped over the island, and Wylan decided he didn’t want to play councilor. 

“The faster you finish, the faster you’ll get to eat M’n’C,” Wylan told him, kissing his cheek as he passed before joining Matthias in the kitchen, who was drinking a very big glass of milk. 

Wylan wondered if they should have Jesper and Inej have some wine before eating Nina’s food from now on to make them a bit more immune.

Nina clapped happily. “You guys ate it and nobody passed out! I’m improving.”

It was true. Her first dishes were nearly fatal. 

Wylan and Matthias moved around the kitchen, grabbing a box of Mac and Cheese, milk, butter, and bowls. 

Nina’s face fell. “Still needs comfort food,”

Inej took child-like sips from her chocolate milk. “Sorry, but yes,”

Nina sighed. “Well, one day. But you’re still eating that. Anyone up for a movie night?”

Kaz, who had started to take a video of Inej and Jesper crying softly at the bites they took, looked up. “Depends on what,”

“I was thinking Disney.”

“Brave or Tangled,” Inej said.

“Psshhh, Frozen,” Nina said. “Or The Princess and the Frog,”

“Lion King,” Kaz countered. “Or that live-action thing, the Sleeping Beauty one. Maleficent, I think,”

“Is that Disney?”

“It’s based on a fairy-tail. Close enough,”

“101 Dalmatians or The Jungle Book live-action,” Matthias declared.

“Is The Jungle Book live-action Disney?”

“I don’t know,”

They looked at Wylan, who considered it for a moment. He shrugged. “Uh, Pocahontas or um… The Little Mermaid?”

“You’re in it for the music,”

“Maybe,”

Nina threw a ball of paper at Jesper, who looked up sadly. “How To Train Your Dragon or The Book of Life,”

“Are either of those Disney?” Nina and Wylan asked.

“I dunnoh. DreamWorks?”

In the end, they choose Descendants. They liked movies, but none of them knew shit about where things came from, even with Disney. ( **I don’t either, okay?** )

Wylan and Matthias scrambled to make the M’n’C while Inej and Jesper finished the last few bites, swallowed about a gallon of water each, and sat down with new glasses of chocolate milk. Nina got on Netflix and started to look it up while Kaz just watched them and scrolled on his phone. 

25 minutes later, all were seated with a bowl of comfort food, blankets on their legs, and partners (or in Inej and Kaz’s case, very nearly-sorta already-it’s a complicated life-partners). 

Matthias quickly took out his phone and typed something in as the movie loaded, and Wylan looked down at his phone, raising an eyebrow as it buzzed. He took his ear buds out and put them in before listening to the message in a robotic male voice. 

 

**ArticWolfSoldier – Look at Kaz and Inej right now.**

**ArticWolfSoldier – And I know you can’t speak right now so just reply with an emoji or something.**

**Silly Adults, Bombs are For Kids! – @_@**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – ……………Ô_Ô**

**ArticWolfSoldier – Yeah, I know. Adorable hand holding, right?**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – c:**

**ArticWolfSoldier – No pointing it out to the others though, okay?**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – \\(*˅*)/**

**ArticWolfSoldier – You’ve been spending too much time with Jesper. No teasing!**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – … ( ._.)… Ù_Ú … (-  ̪  -)**

**ArticWolfSoldier – I’m somehow able to decipher that. Anyway, good. Let’s stop now, the movie is starting.**

 

If there was one thing he could claim, Wylan thought, it was that he was skilled in the art of emojis. 

The movie started, going smoothly until…

Nina raised her hands. “Ahh, here it comes! Kaz, please please please please please sing with us for once!”

“No.”

“It’s starting!” Jesper yells, lifting Wylan and jumping excitedly. 

Rotten To The Core started to play on screen. 

Nina shrieked. “They say I’m trouble! They say I’m bad! They say I’m evil! And that makes me glad!”

No one minded her singing voice at that point. Even Kaz was smirking as he listened to the lyrics. Wylan saw him mouth the words but not make any sound.

Jesper impressively managed to moonwalk. “A dirty no-good, down to the bone! Your worst nightmare can’t take me home!” he pointed at Kaz and mouthed  _ he should be singing this! _

Kaz smacked him. 

Inej scrambled out of Kaz’s arms and raised her own up, starting to dance when Wylan sang, “So I’ve got some mischief in my blood. Can you blame me? I never got no love!”

Nina pulled Matthias up, who protested but soon sang along quietly with his girlfriend and everyone except Kaz. “They think I’m callous, a low-life hood. I feel so useless, misunderstood!”

Wylan jumped up and down excitedly, motioning for Inej to dance some. She obliged as her and Jesper mimed actions. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the baddest of them all?” they pointed to Kaz. “Welcome to my wicked world, wicked wooorld!”

Jesper and Nina started stomping. “I’m rotten to the core, core, rotten to the core! I’m rotten to the core, core, who could ask for more?!”

Inej and Wylan jumped onto the couch. “I’m nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door! I’m rotten to the, I’m rotten to the, I’m rotten to the core!

They collapsed into a pile of giggles and snorts, taking big breaths. Inej tried to get Kaz to stand, but the most she could do was get his to sit up some more. He was taking a video, muffling a laugh with his hand. It reminded Wylan of his Christmas giggles.

“Ooh, ooh, come on!” Nina grabbed Inej and spun her. “Kaz, don’t even sing it, just say the words!”

“No singing?”

“No singing,”

Kaz rolled his eyes, but to everyone’s amazement, he actually participated in the next verse. “Call me a schemer, call me a freak. How can you say that? I’m just unique,”

Inej grinned merrily, joining him, although she did sing. Actually, Kaz’s voice sounded strangely melodious, even if he wasn’t singing. 

“What, me a traitor?” Jesper dipped Wylan, who giggled. Matthias grinned and joined in. “Ain’t got your back? Are we not friends? What’s up with that?”

Nina moved her body side to side, winking at Matthias. “So I’m a misfit. So I’m a flirt. I broke your heart, I made you hurt,”

“The past is past,” Inej sang. Jesper laughed and doubled with her. “Forgive, forget. The truth is, you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Inej gestured for Kaz to “sing” with them, and he spoke along with them again as the rest of them sang full-blast. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the baddest of them all? Welcome to my wicked world, wicked wooorld!”

Inej whooped and all five of them copied the dance on screen which they know by heart, even Matthias, as they continued to sing/talk --> (Kaz, who was still sitting). “I’m rotten to the core, core, rotten to the core. I’m rotten to the core, core, who could as for more?! I’m nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door! I’m rotten to the, I’m rotten to the, I’m rotten to the core!”

Like the people in the movie, they held still for a moment, but unlike them, they burst out, dying of laughter, even Kaz (although he wasn’t giggling). 

Nina paused the movie. “Amazing. Freaking amazing. And Kaz even sort-of went along with the words! And the dancing! Matthias, I’m so proud!”

Matthias rolled his eyes.

“That. Was. The. Best.” Jesper announced, spinning onto the couch while Inej and Wylan laughed and gave each other high-tens. 

Kaz grinned. “I’ve got it all on camera. This is one of the weirdest things ever.”

“But you can’t use it as outward blackmail because it will ‘tarnish our reputation’,” Nina pointed out. “And there’s no point in using it against each other because we all took part. What’s it for?”

“I know that perfectly well, Nina,” Kaz said. “I’ll make fun of you guys about this later though.”

“I have no shame!” Nina yelled before collapsing onto the loveseat and throwing a cushion at Kaz.

Wylan huddled back up in Jesper’s arms, grinning stupidly and watching as Inej climbed back into Kaz’s lap. He trained his eyes on her, determined to see what happened in between them.

There, a flash. Inej moved in an almost invisible manner, pressing her lips against Kaz’s cheek in a split second. Kaz looked at her, startled for a moment, before smiling a bit and just as quickly brought her hands to his lips and kissed it before letting it go. All in a few seconds, but watching it, it felt like several minutes.

His phone buzzed again.

 

**ArticWolfSoldier – Did you catch it? I think you caught it.**

**ArticWolfSoldier – The K A N E J**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – \\(*˅*)/**

 

Wylan didn’t actually say anything, but it was a pretty accurate description of how he felt about what he’d witnessed. 

Nina pressed play, Wylan kissed Jesper, and they trained their attention onto the screen, their favorite part over. 

They sang to the Maleficent/Mal duo song in the museum as well, Nina and Jesper doing the whole thing with Kaz’s cane. He looked momentarily angry that they took it, but when Inej joined, he simply grumbled, still not happy but not angry either. Wylan warned Jesper not to do it again, and he just shrugged. Otherwise, the movie went well.

As the outro played, Inej ventured out in a small voice. “Hey Kaz, weren’t we suppose to turn in 5 poems tomorrow? I haven’t done them yet, and they were due Thursday, and I said I was going to help you with yours,”

Kaz glanced at his home, checking the time. “It’s only7:36. We should be okay.”

“We also had to write a small response as to why we wrote what we did, do a combo poem with a partner, and start a song that means something to us,”

Kaz groaned. “Well, fuck,”

Wylan was confused. “You guys stay up late all the time,”

Kaz met his eyes. “Wylan, this is poetry. Lots of it. And a song. My verdict? Is that I suck at that, so fuck,”

Inej rolled her eyes and Nina, then Kaz. “This isn’t how you woo a girl, Kaz. We’ve talked about this too,”

He raised a brow. “Really? Well, fuck,”

She threw a pillow at him as the rest of them laughed. Wylan took a picture. 

 

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – C-U-T-E-!!!!**

**ArticWolfSoldier – I K R !!! Also great spelling.**

**Silly Adults, Bombs Are For Kids! – c:**

 


	16. Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaz has had enough of the Kanej shipping, V-Day gifts are exchanged, and Inej has some new jewelry! Pretty much Kanej, since that’s what this fic focuses on and there’s a cute date! Also, Kaz is not good with amusement parks, the poor boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited. I'm not sure where I was going with this, and I'm not completely sure I like it, but it happened. Also, birthday reveals at the end! Warning: Excess cursing from Kaz.

**Inej**

 

Inej rolled around snuggly in her covers, burrowing herself into them deeply. She’d woken up from a rare dreamless night, and had been waiting for her alarm to go off the last 50 or so minutes, half-awake and half-asleep, but fully warm.

She tuned out the stirrings downstairs of Kaz, Wylan, and Matthias, trying to remember what she had to do that day. The hostage situation had dragged on a bit longer than she would have liked, and for the past few weeks Kaz had made periodic stops, usually with her along, to visit them. 

Just a few days ago, they had been returned, starving, injured, scarred and traumatized, but no one had been blown up and Kaz got everything he wanted.

Inej liked that he brought her along so often. She shouldn’t want to be part of a crime, but she felt ridiculously honored still that she was one of the Dreg lieutenants, along with Anika, Jesper, and Pim. She and Jesper were also Kaz’s constant companions, both or one of them constantly with him on the job. In those moments, they were Dirtyhands and the Wraith. Sometimes the crew looked at her in sympathy when Kaz treated her all business-like, but over time, Inej had come to sort of kinda maybe like being held in high esteem, and being the person he turned to when jobs got difficult.

_ Do you want to be the Queen of Thieves? _

_ I’m not sure anymore, Papa. _

She blearily glanced at the clock. 20 more minutes.

She heard the loud tumbling of Jesper and Nina getting up, then wondered, amazed, what they were doing so up so early. Jesper was random in the times he got up, and unless he got a full night’s sleep, he was never up before Inej. And  _ Nina _ being up? Impossible.

What day was it? Was something important happening?

It could wait for her alarm to go off.

Inej heard yells of joy, lots of flirting, the sound of hugging, awws, and cheers, but nothing could steer her away from her stuffed animal, a long, fluffy black cat Nina had given her at some point. There was also a small, equally soft crow she’d gotten from Kaz (granted, he’d stolen it from a merchers’ kid when they broke into the house through the nursery window) a few years back, worn from Inej holding onto it. She was pretty sure it was one of his weirdest reactions to anything ever.

_ “Well, look at that,” Kaz murmured, raising an amused eyebrow. Inej glanced at him. Two years into the Dregs, and that look still unnerved her. Kaz was, in a weird, twisted sense, her best friend, along with Jesper Fahey, so she was used to his expressions. They were as familiar to her as her knives. And as they unnerved here, now they also sometimes made her look away sharply, face warming. A new, infant feeling, one that hadn’t even been there three months ago… _

_ Oh, she hated it. She knew it was a stupid thing to be doing, and she hated it. _

_ “What?” she asked. _

_ Kaz picked up a small black bundle from the shelf, his dark coat making him blend into the shadows of the room like she herself was doing. Inej pulled on her hood some.  _

_ He held it out. It was a crow, new, about as big as a soccer ball. “The irony,” he spoke in a hushed tone, barely making any sound even though his voice rasped audibly. “Is rather intriguing,”  _

_ Inej raised an eyebrow back at him although her eyes stayed on the crow, and though she knew that he couldn’t see her expression, he knew it just fine. “Dirtyhands, holding a stuffed animal. A rare sight,” _

_ “The Wraith, watching said stuffed animal with childlike glee. A rare sight,”  _

_ She glared at him, and he shrugged. “Your face literally lit up and you looked like you were about to tackle me for it. Maybe your thoughts don’t align, but it certainly looked like a five year olds expression,” _

_ “Whatever, Kaz,” _

_ He shrugged and put it down, motioning for her to be silent before creeping down the hall to the office. _

_ When they came back, Inej walking in front of Kaz, her eyes passed over the bird again. She shook her head and started towards the window, then heard, “Think fast,” _

_ She whirled, mostly because Kaz was always testing (making fun of) Inej and Jesper by saying that and then throwing a variety of things at them. Knives, bombs, guns, books, money, once a finger, a cinnamon roll, other food, and once he said ‘I thought about saying it but it would have taken too long’ after he threw a candy bar at her face, hitting her right between the eyes. The bastard hadn’t even apologized, just smirked.  _

_ It was a weird phase. It was odd that Kaz had ‘phases’ like any other person, like Jesper’s ‘ _ I want a bayonet’ _ phase and Inej’s own ‘ _ Hey, can I have a tranquillizer dart gun? _ ’ phase. But he did, which was somewhat funny. But his phases tended to be extremely taxing...  _

_ This time, a ball of black flew at her, and Inej fumbled to catch it. “The crow?” _

_ “Take it if you want it. We can take some of the others to be more inconspicuous, since a crow is an obvious lead to the Dregs. Pass them around or whatever you do to make your Saints happy.” _

_ Inej looked up at him, amazed, and his lips quirked in half a smile. “Wait what, seriously?” _

_ “I’ll be taking a quarter of your pay for this job though,” _

_ “I am going to skewer you Kaz,” _

_ She didn’t. Actually, she thanked him a few days later by buying him a crow charm phone chain. He hadn’t used it at first, but later she noticed it hanging from one of his smartphones.  _

 

Whenever Kaz saw the crow now, he raised an eyebrow at her and threw it, his old words of ‘think fast’ resurfacing as Inej and the crow suffered through it being thrown in her cereal, in the sink, in a tree, out the window, and of course her face. Somehow it was still as soft as ever. 

Her alarm went off and Inej groaned, throwing a well-aimed sock from her feet at it, making it clatter to the floor and go off. “Five more minutes,” she muttered to herself.

“OH INEJ!” 

Inej muttered a curse. 

Barreling in, Nina and Jesper, still in their pajamas, tackled Inej Bundle, giving her a tight hug. Inej didn’t even flinch, thankfully accustomed to them ‘assaulting’ her. If it had been someone on the street though, it would be a different story.

Nina pecked Inej on both cheeks, while Jesper ruffled her sleep-mused hair and hugged her again.

“Why am I being harassed?” Inej asked.

Jesper and Nina looked at each other, then Inej. “You do know what day it is, right?”

“No idea,”

“It’s February. We’re two weeks in. What does that means?”

“It means you expect me to do riddles in the morning and I shall not oblige,” Inej yawned and bundled back into her fluffy purple blanket. “Five more minutes,” she said again.

“Nope,” Jesper lifted Inej, and her pillow, and her blankets, and her stuffed cat and crow, all easily in his long arms. Add the mattress and he would have her whole bed.

“What are you doing?!” Inej screamed as he ran down her stairs with her in his arms, Nina in front of them as she announced that Inej was awake.

Inej was dumped on the couch, bundle still mostly intact. She bounced a few times, then turned to face Jesper. “What was  _ that _ about?”

Jesper held up a heart card in front of him. “Hint,”

Nina waggled a heart shaped waffle. “Hint,”

They hugged each other. “Hint,”

Inej blinked slowly, then said, “Alert: System Error. Please Shut Down And Restart In Five Minutes.”

She pulled her blankets over her head and closed her eyes. 

“Kaz, talk to her,” Jesper said.

“Why me? You’re the ones who brought her down here,”

“Because since today is a VERY SPECIAL day, Inej needs to be reminded by a VERY SPECIAL person,”

She heard the sounds of Kaz dumping a glass of water on his head, then muttering, “Fine,”

She felt the cushion shift as Kaz sat down next to her, his fingers tugging at the edge. “Come on, Inej. Time to get up.”

“Don’t wanna,”

“What about if I torture Nina and Jesper?”

“Sleeeep,”

“And buy you cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon,”

Inej froze. “How many?”

“Two,” K.

“Four,” I.

“Three,” K.

“Deal,” I.

She let him pull the blanket from her face. His hands, inky black with his gloves on, passed over the wisps of her messed up hair, brushing it from her face. “Someone was sleepy,”

“I get to sleep in too,” she muttered, tilting her head like a cat for him to pet her. He rolled his eyes, but obliged.

“So what’s this VERY SPECIAL day?” Inej asked. “I’m out of it,”

“Hint,” Wylan popped up in front of her. “It’s why dance was canceled,”

“Uhh,”

“Hint,” Matthias said from somewhere in the kitchen. “It’s a couple’s night at every restaurant,”

“Mehhh,”

Nina threw a cushion at Kaz, who easily deflected it. “Give her a hint,”

Kaz sighed. “Hint: It’s Valentine’s Day,”

“KAZ!” they all shouted. “You were supposed to give her a hint, not the answer!”

“I don’t really care,” he shrugged.

Inej suddenly did care, a whole lot. She struggled against the blankets until she finally tumbled out of them, rushed up her room, noting the pink tinsel in the hallway that definitely hadn’t been there last night, and grabbed a bunch of stuff, dumping them in a box then dashing back downstairs.

“Don’t even ask me how I forgot!” Inej announced, slamming the box onto the kitchen table. “I’ve been buying stuff for you guys for ages!”

She handed everyone a box of chocolates, heart-shaped, then pulled out a large rectangular chocolate box for everyone to share. She also gave everyone a Valentine’s Day card and a hug, and Kaz didn’t even flinch (he tensed a little) when she hugged him. 

Inej passed out a ton of hard candy like lollipops and heart-shaped things, Smarties, Twix, Jolly Ranchers, and little emoji plushies. Nina got a kissy face while Jesper got a winky face. Wylan got one that was smiling and blushing, while Matthias got a squinty-eyed blushing one ( **( >/////<)** ). Kaz’s was the straight face emoji with the slightest pink on the cheeks.

“Wow, these are cute,” Nina said, squishing hers. “Thanks a ton, Inej!” 

Inej’s ribs were crushed again.

“Accurate too,” Jesper winked. “Even Kaz’s,”

“Shut up, Jes,”

Jesper winked at Kaz too, who made a face at him.

Inej sat down next to Kaz, laying on his shoulder and watched the others.

“Oh! Oh!” Nina said, grabbing a box of her own. “Matthias, I got us pins!”

“Pins?”

“Yeah!”

She took them out. Both said ‘Matthias x Nina’ on the top, and had a bunch of little hearts on it. She also pulled out matching bracelets. “I was going to make t-shirts, but I didn’t have enough money,”

Jesper sighed. “I’m still trying to convince Wylan into wearing those signs. Either ‘I’m With Gay’ and ‘I’m Gay’ or ‘Please Return To ~’ ‘I am ~’.”

“Neither,” Wylan said. “I’m not wearing a sign to school,”

“What about a sash?”

Wylan actually considered it before shaking his head. 

“How about we get some white shirts and put it on them?”

“You’re not letting this go, are you?”

“Nope,”

“Ugh, fine, as long as it isn’t a sign or a sash,”

“Shirt it is!”

Jesper dashed into the basement. Inej would have asked why he was heading down there to get his clothes, but he probably had a ton of his clothes around Wylan’s bed. 

Wylan gave Inej a cup of tea, which she sipped slowly and offered to Kaz, who shook his head and gestured at his coffee. His other hand wrapped around her free one.

“Oh right,” Wylan said, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket. “So, I have this really weird dream like two nights ago. It was about Valentine’s Day, actually. Matthias was in it, and we were talking about you guys, Kaz and Inej, and out of nowhere he just kinds of…” he starts to laugh. “I drew it. Here, Matthias,”

Matthias took the paper, unfolding it. He stared at the drawing then burst out laughing, handing the paper to Nina, who looked momentarily disturbed before starting to giggle.

“What is it?” Inej asked.

Nina handed it to her.

“Oh Saints,” Inej’s jaw dropped.

It was Matthias leaping forward, a serious expression on his face as his hands ripped his blue shirt to show a white one saying KANEJ underneath. He looked like a mix between a ballerina, a rabid fangirl, the Hulk, and somehow a bird.

“My eyes,” Kaz said slowly. “Can never un-see that,”  

“Okay, so I get that it’s silly, but why are you two dying?” Inej asked.

Matthias collected himself and brought out a sash. It took Inej a moment to figure out what it said. ‘Proud Supporters Of Kanej: Kaz Brekker x Inej Ghafa’.

“I’ve got one too,” Nina laughed. “I made him come with me to make them. I’m not wearing mine right now, but still, it’s great. I didn’t know you were clairvoyant, Wylan,”

“In my dream, Matthias was dancing and squawking and jumping around Kaz and Inej in very over-exaggerated leaps. He also put on sun glasses, did the splits, fell off the school’s roof screaming Kanej, then summersaulted in midair and somehow became the leader of Kerch and announced himself President of the United Kanej Shippers of Kerch. And we’re not even a democracy. Definitely not clairvoyant.”

Matthias stopped laughing at stared at Wylan. “Wylan, were you high?”

“I was asleep!” Wylan made a face. “And I don’t like drugs,”

Jesper ran out the basement. “I heard everything and can I just say that one, I already knew, Wylan told me, and two,” He took out a flag from literally nowhere. It said ‘Kaz x Inej’. “I’ve got my own merchandise,”

Kaz got out gun, and Inej had to wonder were Jesper and Kaz kept flags and guns on them. Well, with Kaz it made more sense, but a  _ flag? _

“I will shoot you all,” Kaz said, dead-faced. “You are being ridiculous, pushy, annoying, and taking this all way to far.”

The others paused, and Inej bit her lip. She had been planning on having a ‘talking down’ with Nina and Jesper about this the day before but had been busy writing a paper for her philosophy class, which was killing her. 

She usually didn’t mind the teasing, but she was thinking that she might stop spilling her guts to Nina and Jesper. Even though Wylan had been the one to draw the Matthias thing, she had to admit she probably trusted him the most when it came to telling secretes, which sort of sucked because Nina was definitely her best friend (after Kaz? And Jesper was her best friend to…Who was her bigger best friend? Did it matter?), but also too…loud.

Nina looked at Inej. “Is it really that bad?”

Inej adverted her eyes. “It’s getting old. Thanks for the support, I suppose?”

“But…?” Jesper prompted, looking at her.

“It’s starting to wear on me,” she admitted. “Like, leave it alone?”

“More than just  _ starting _ ,” Kaz said. “I understand you’re all obsessed with the ‘shipping’ thing you like, but I cannot claim that I won’t hang you from the window again. Or shoot you in the shoulder or the foot or the leg or the arm,”

“At least it’s nowhere lethal,” Jesper murmured. “Look, guys, sorry. I know we get a bit carried away,”

Inej gestured at the flag and the sash. “A bit?”

“Okay, a lot,” he amended. “It’s just kind of what we do. If it really made you guys uncomfortable, you could have said,”

“Don’t turn this on us,” Kaz said. “We said ‘stop’ plenty of times, and I believe I’ve made several threats on the matter,”

“But you’re always making threats!” Jesper half-joked and half-exclaimed. “How was I supposed to know which ones were real?”

Kaz raised a slow eyebrow, the gun still cocked at Nina and Jesper. “How could you not?”

Jesper opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it about.

“After all,” Kaz drawled. “Don’t you know best on that matter? Don’t you always claim you can tell what angers me and not? And usually you can. You just ignored it,”

“I thought you would get over it,” Jesper slowly admitted. 

Nina nodded. “I mean, you couldn’t be bothered about it forever, right?”

“Nina, Jesper, you are aware that if Pekka Rollins, who I kicked out of Ketterdam several years ago, happened to show up again, I’d tie him up, torture him, then throw him out for the sharks to eat? Or kill him myself? And I was  _ nine _ when I started this grudge against him? Sure, you guys wouldn’t get the same punishment, nowhere near the same level, but we all know I don’t just  _ get over _ things,”

“We were hoping that maybe this one would be an exception,”

“Well, it isn’t,”

Inej sighed. “Just stop. Stop with it all. It’s ridiculous,”

Nina and Jesper, along with Matthias and Wylan, all nodded.

“Now,” Inej got up and clapped. “How about Jesper makes those shirts and Nina and Matthias dress up in matching outfits and you leave Kaz and I out of the ‘act like a couple’ movement, okay?”

Nina cracked a smile. “I don’t think Matthias would be okay with me putting mascara on him,”

Matthias shuddered. “Never again. I looked like some weird trash grunge metal band guy. It was not good,”

Nina nodded. “Yeah, actually, never try that. It was scary,”

“Also,” Inej said. “Why has no one given me chocolate?”

The other’s perked up, and two minutes later she was buried under a mountain. 

At least that conversation was over.

 

* * *

 

Inej ruffled through her closet. Dress up, or don’t dress up? It was only Valentine’s Day, not some national holiday, but she was…Well, she wasn’t sure what she was. Would she and Kaz do something? Would they not? What were the others doing? 

She sighed. Who knew what was going to happen? She ended up pulling on black skinny jeans, because anything other than skinny looked baggy on her, and skinny ones were still comfortable enough not to be suggestive, as well as more fashionable then her usual black leggings. Then a dark, vivid purple shirt with long sleeves followed. It had cute light purple flowers on the hem, and reached below her jeans top hem on the front, lengthening as it went to the back, reaching to the start of her thighs. In other words: Fashionably cute without showing skin. Her type of clothing. 

Inej then looked at her hair in the vanity of her room. Down? Braided? Two braids? Usual? Something completely different? She sat down and tried what she could come up with, and failing. Would it be okay to leave her hair alone on Valentine’s Day? Not that she minded doing it; it was just that she sucked with hair. 

In truth, Inej loved Valentine’s Day. It was the day of friendship and love, and even if Saint Valentine was not her one of her saints, and no one actually knew what he’d done to become a Saint, it was a very enjoyable day. Excluding the fact that the Menagerie was always busy and that she saw too much PDA for her liking around the time…

She heard a  _ rap rap rap _ at her ‘door’ and immediately recognized it. “Come on in, Kaz,”

He did, pulling down the rope for it. “Are you doing something?”

She raised an eyebrow at him in the mirror. “I said come in, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he looked around. “Weird. I haven’t been up here in a while.”

He sat down on a pillow by the wall, put in place exactly for that reason. Jesper had made inquiries, but she’d never answered them. 

“It’s been several months,” Inej admitted. They used to always hang out in the other’s rooms, but sometime during the Summer, the couch had become their hang out place, to be with everyone else. Inej kind of missed the solitude of it being just her and Kaz. “But nothing major has changed,”

“All the Christmas pictures and New Year’s and Thanksgiving pictures are up,” he noted. “But except for the mountain of notebooks, it’s pretty much the same.”

“So what’s up?” Inej sighed and pulled out the band from her hair, accidentally pulling on it roughly. She threw a hairband at Kaz when he laughed at her misfortune. She tried to make a side bun, and then decided she didn’t like it. Maybe a ponytail twist?

“The others were all talking about going to dinner, Nina with Matthias and Wylan with Jesper, and stuff, and they all planned things for after that to. Tomorrow they are going to ‘ _ worship as a second day of Valentine spirit, focusing on friendship and bonds _ ’ or some weird shit like that,”

Inej huffed. “I think it’s cute, not some ‘weird shit’.”

“It is weird,”

“No it isn’t,”

“Yes it is.”

“No it isn’t — Wait, why’d you come and tell me that though? Nina could’ve, in the car,” Inej felt the sentence rise slightly, hopeful, and she knew Kaz could hear it in her voice.

“We could do something too,” he said slowly. 

“Like what?”

He stalled for a moment, considering. “Eat? Walk around? Go someplace? I don’t know, whatever you feel up to,”

“Anything that isn’t gang business,”

He snapped his fingers. “Well, there go half the options,”

“Kaz!”

“Kidding, I swear. Nothing gang related.”

“Then…” Where could she and Kaz go? She bit her lip for a few seconds, thinking about all the places the six of them had gone as a group, or outings Nina and Jesper had told her about.

Then it came to her. “We are so going to an amusement park,”

Kaz blinked. “Uh, never been to one of those when I wasn’t stealing.”

“That says something about novelty,” she teased.

“Jesper’s line. Well, sure, an amusement park. But not one in Ketterdam. What about where you work?”

“Same town as where Nina and I work?”

“Yeah,”

She beamed at him. “Yeah, sure,”

“Oh, and about the hair you seem to be trying to strangle—”

“It’s trying to strangle  _ me _ ,” 

“Sure. Anyway,” he got up, gesturing for her to comb her hair with a line straight down the middle like usual. She did. He grabbed a strand near the front, twisting the top of it and lifting it up to the side of her hair. “Close your eyes,”

She did, wondering why the Hell Kaz was doing her hair. She felt something cool pass over her scalp and clip, holding the small twist in place.

“Look now,” he said, smoothing down the rest of her hair. She did, looking at her reflection in the vanity. She took a sharp intake of breath. 

A beautiful pin, a small but abundant flower, held her hair in place. It was purple, with golden edges, seeming to almost glow, an exquisite flourish to the truly simple style. “I…Kaz, it’s—”

“Fitting,” he cut her off. “You can say beautiful or amazing or anything like that, but what it truly is, is fitting,”

He was behind her, holding her gaze in the mirror. She turned her head to admire the flower. “Thank you, Kaz, really. It’s gorgeous,”

He muttered something she couldn’t make out. She looked at him in the mirror, noticing the faint pink on his cheeks. Faint, but still there. 

“Amethyst and gold,” he said. “It seemed appropriate. I…you like it?”

“Kaz, I  _ love _ it,” she turned to him, rising from the chair to kiss him. He startled, and slowly kissed back (which still made her insanely happy. He was shy when kissing, but oddly determined too. Sometimes when it was too much he’d break away, and Inej would have to back up some, but he rarely did). She tilted her head and put her arms around his neck, standing on her tippy toes. Kaz smiled against her mouth and she lifted herself so she could sit on the vanity. He pulled away after a bit, and she kissed his cheek, holding his sides on either side of her. 

“I’m glad,” he admitted slowly. “I wasn’t sure whether I should or not…”

“It great, Kaz, really,” Inej grinned. “Actually, I got something for you too. Definitely not as expensive though,” 

She went over to her closet, hopping of the vanity, then took out a small bag. She pulled out a crow that looked similar to her own, but it had silver hearts on each wing tip. She took the band around its neck, a silver and black bracelet with small feather charms and a small circle attached to the band that said  _ Criminal _ . Kaz took the gift and laughed. 

“Criminal?”

“It’s true! And look,” she gestured at a similar bracelet on her own wrist, but instead of ‘Criminal’, it said  _ Royalty _ .

“Criminal Royalty?” Kaz asked, raising an eyebrow as he had a stare down with the crow. “Isn’t that one of the ship names Jesper came up with at like the start of November?”

“Yup. They may be taking it too far right now…but I secretly liked that one,”

Kaz bit his lip, glancing at her. “Admittedly, it’s not horrible,”

He squished the crow a bit, then compared it to her own. He threw it are her face (her crow, not his), saying “Think fast,”

She barely caught it. She threw it back onto her bed before handing the bracelet to Kaz, who slipped it on with a flick of his wrist. It was a clasp bracelet though…

She sat on the floor, and Kaz slid next to her, holding her hand. She grinned at him, feeling the bracelet on her wrist on the Christmas charm around her neck and the flower pin in her hair. 

She was pretty sure this made it an official relationship, kissing and giving each other gifts on Valentine’s Day. She wasn’t sure about the terms ‘boyfriend’ and ‘girlfriend’, which fit Nina and Matthias, and Jesper and Wylan fine, cute little ways of people knowing what they were immediately, just by throwing the word out. Kaz and her were a bit more complicated, she knew. And honestly, Kaz Brekker, her  _ boyfriend? _ Ridiculous. But partners…Significant others… 

“So I’m the King?” Kaz asked.

“People call me your Wraith Queen, and you did say we’d be the Kings and Queens of the Barrel once…so yes, you’re the King. I’m your Queen,”

“And who rules?”

“You, for the most part. Or so people think. I’m pretty sure I have the King wrapped around my little finger.”

“It is a very  _ little _ little finger. I’m not sure you could wrap me up in it,”

“Hey! My hands aren’t that small,”

Kaz took her hand and pressed it flat against his own, bared skin. “Yes, they are. Cute little hands for cute little people,”

“Did you just say the word cute? Wait, did you just call me cute?” Inej peered at him, smiling. 

“I also called you little,”

Her grin widened. “So I’m cute,”

He shrugged, not blushing, not looking away, not biting his lip, as if it were a simple thing he’d accepted as fact so casually it wasn’t even worth mentioning. 

“Hmm. Well, you aren’t so bad yourself, Mr. Brekker,”

Kaz blinked then offered a sly smirk. “The Queen beats me in that criterion,”

“Competing with your dashing looks? I doubt it,”

“Dashing? Maybe when I get a full night’s sleep, and frankly, that never happens.”

“Which needs to change, King. Maybe a new law is that you have to be asleep by midnight,”

“That’s way too early, Queen,”

“No it isn’t, Mr. Oh-Hey-It’s-Four-In-The-Morning-I Should-Go-To-Sleep-In-An-Hour,”

“For the record, I went to sleep at three last night,”

“Improvement, King. You should continue on like this until you get to midnight. Maybe we might even go for sane and do eleven.”

“Anything for the Queen,” He took her hand and kissed it, bitter coffee eyes glinting with amusement at the light banter.

“Kaz, Inej! Time to go!” Jesper’s yell startled them, and they looked at each other, sheepish. Kaz got up, offering his hand to Inej and lifting her, then started to pull down the stairs for him to get out of her attic. 

“By the way, look at your vanity,” he said, smiling at her then disappearing downstairs. “Coming, Jesper. You don’t have to sound like a guy on a megaphone, you know,”

Jesper answered that he would be great with a megaphone, and Inej tuned out, looking over to her vanity. A small black box laid on it. When had he put it there?

Inside, there was a note that read ‘ _ Inej’  _ in his messy scrawl. She laughed, because he was never one for notes. 

She removed the note and grinned down at the small stud earrings, singular petals that matched the flower in her hair, and a cute ankle bracelet, so unlike the ones she had to use in the Menagerie. With the tinkling bells to catch attention. It was a woven band of white, black, and purple, in a traditional design. She slipped it on immediately, as well as the earrings, and admired herself in the mirror for a moment. She rarely did anymore, but she was in clothes she was comfortable in, wearing Kaz’s gifts and a smile. She took her phone and took a picture of her reflection (selfies were only done with Nina and Jesper around) (House Rule), then hurried to grab her stuff. 

One pair of small and cute black snow boots, one school bag, and her waistcoat later, she ran down the stairs and joined the others as they got into the car.

 

* * *

 

“Hey Inej, is that a new hair pin? I don’t recognize it.”

“Yup. It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“As the ultimate hair pin fanatic of the century, I, Nina Zenik, claim that it is beautiful,”

“…Okay then,”

“Don’t question it,”

“I’ll try,”

 

* * *

 

Inej watched as the scenery moved past them in a blur, the relatively empty light rail zooming past everything. The day had been weird, with balloons and teddy bears and candies and cards and lots of hugging and getting together, as well as lots of break ups. Valentine’s Day was some  _ serious _ drama in Ketterdam. Especially when all the Merchers’ wives were raising eyebrows at their husbands and made them nervous. People say rich ladies are naïve, but not in Ketterdam on Valentine’s Day. They turned into eagle-eyed judges waiting to put down their verdict. Highly amusing. 

Nina and Matthias were going to a multi-cultural festival by the docks, were there would be a little bit of everything, but that wasn’t until later. For now, they were walking around Ketterdam, stopping at every few blocks to buy some sort of food and walking through parks hand in hand. They said that they’d probably be walking around well past midnight and just go to an inn or something and come back in the morning.

Wylan and Jesper were hanging out at the University district, were everything was red and pink and purple and Valentine-ready, shopping and hanging out at all the small activities, making the streets like a festival itself. Later, they were having a top-notch fancy dinner at some five star restaurant. Inej could  _ definitely _ imagine Jesper wearing a perfectly perfect suit, and a cerise sequined hat on top inside whatever place they decided on. Oh, the stares. Similarly to the other two, they wouldn’t show until the next morning. 

Kaz and herself would go and walk around town, for an hour then go to the amusement park, try to get on all the rides that they were interested in. They’d probably eat at some café or restaurant in the amusement park, hang around for a few hours, before heading back home. It was probably the least planned out plan Kaz and she had ever made, but whatever. 

She glanced at Kaz, who was doing something on his phone. “What’s that?”

Kaz hid the screen from her, grinning slightly. She blushed. “Surprise. You’ll have to be patient,”

“At least I’m not Jesper,”

Kaz rolled his eyes. “At least you are not Jesper. I do hope that you get  _ somewhat _ excited for it though,”

“Well, I might steal your phone,”

“You don’t know the password,”

Inej frowned. “Or the phone. You have three phones, and all of them are the same model and look exactly the same. How do you keep them straight?”

“Can’t tell you all my secretes, Wraith,”

“Oh, whatever,” she smiled at him, not really annoyed. 

She took out her own phone and started to play Piano Tiles. After some time of watching her fail, and laughing, Kaz made her play Flappy Bird. She nearly threw the phone through the window in frustration.

 

* * *

 

“I am not going on that,” Kaz said, glaring at the roller coaster Inej was gesturing at excitedly. It was huge, red, going super high with dips and loops and screws and places where you went upside down or to the side. Best part is that the seats were hanging, not the traditional roller coaster car style.

“Why not?” Inej stared at him. “It’s amazing. You aren’t scared of heights, are you?”

“Inej, you’ve seen me travel by rooftop before. That is  _ not _ my problem…”

“Then what is it? Nobody’s died on this ride.”

“Give it time. It’s only two years old,”

“No need to be so morbid!”

“Right. I’m  _ always _ morbid,”

“Oh, come on Kaz! The last group just went on; the line is short now,”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him. Kaz stumbled behind her before regaining his footing, looking more than a bit apprehensive. She laughed at him, getting behind some ginger haired girl in pink and white and a black haired boy with a pink strand in his hair.

The ginger jumped up and down. “Yay! I can’t believe I’m finally getting to try this thing! Agghh, I can’t waaaaiiiiiittttt!”

“Calm down, Nora,” the boy said.

Nora pouted. “But  _ Ren _ …It’s so COOL!”

“Please don’t zap us with lightning,”

“No promises!”

Inej heard Kaz mutter, “Please keep the lightning to yourself,”

She rolled her eyes, waiting impatiently for them to be let on. 

A few minutes later, with more people coming behind them and dozens of bloodcurdling screams from above, they were finally let on. Kaz stared at the seat and watched as Inej hopped into it and pulled the safety guard down on her then followed her example warily. He stiffened like a rock when a worker came by to check if his safety guard was in place, and Inej winced in sympathy as the worker scurried away from Kaz’s dead-eyed glare. 

A minute or two passed as everyone was checked, and Kaz and Inej watched as their feet dangled, Inej’s much more significantly, above the floor. 

“If I die now,” Kaz muttered. “I’m blaming you. I’ve gone through too much to die on a roller coaster,”

“We aren’t going to die,”

“We could be the firsts, you don’t know.”

“Don’t jinx us,”

“Superstitious much?”

“ _ Kaaaaaz _ ,”

“ _ Ineeeeej _ ,”

“Why are you so against roller coasters?” Inej tried to remember if she’d ever even seen him on an amusement ride all the times they went to one to rob it or swindle someone or ruin another gangs chances or something. 

Kaz shrugged, then took a sharp intake of breath when the roller coaster rumbled. 

“Tell me,”

“It doesn’t matter.”

The roller coaster started to inch forward and his whole body stiffened again, his eyes widening.

“Oh, come one, spit it out, Kaz,”

He stared at the track above them as their feet got higher and higher from the ground, then mumbled, “I’ve never been on a roller coaster before. I’ve never been on  _ any _ ride before,”

Inej stared at him. “Oh…Well…You’re in for…Quiet the ride…”

He glared at her, then the track, then closed his eyes, then opened them again.

Inej frowned. “Wait wait, I don’t know how I didn’t get this, but  _ never? Ever? _ ”

“Never. Ever.”

“Damn. Well, this is one way to get that going. Quite the rite of passage,”

Inej watched as Kaz’s eyes went to the top of the rise, still some way off. “I wish I could look up the rates of death on these types of roller coasters so I could try to calculate the possibility of our death,”

“We’re not going to die!”

“Again, you don’t know that,”

“I do, because you don’t die, so we won’t die,”

“I can’t tell if I like that response or not. Everything dies, but I’ve dodged death many times. So, 50 percent chance of death,”

“Kaz.”

“Hooray, Wraith. Hoo-fucking-ray,”

“Look, only a few more seconds before the drop,”

Kaz’s gloved hands gripped the handles of his safety guard. He looked down to the ground, then to the fast approaching dip, muttered, “Fuck my fucking life which is going to end right about fucking now,” and put his head against the back of his seat. “I leave it all to the fish,”

“Kaz, we don’t even have a fish,”

“Exactly,”

“We’re going on the flying seats after thi— IIIISSSS OH HOLY SAAAAIIIINNNTTTSSS!”

“I HATE EVERYTHING!”

They barreled down towards the ground fast enough to blur Inej’s view, and hundreds of curses spilled from Kaz’s lips as she laughed/shrieked. She raised her arms after a moment of  _ Shoot this is fast how am I not flying off _ and laughed. Kaz glanced at her, mouth clenched, then look ahead with dread. Inej laughed when she saw a series of loops, but he looked a stoic type of terrified. 

Screams behind them started as they, at the front of the seats, started to go upside down. Kaz said something like “Holy shit,” with some yells mixed in, and Inej tried to kick his chin, and failed, her legs going in weird directions. Her hair fell down around her and she hoped the pin stayed in place. 

They were righted, then put upside down again, then righted, then upside down, then righted once more. Inej sighed in relief at the weight of the pin in her hair while Kaz groaned. 

“Why isn’t it over y—ET!” 

The coaster went down like a screw then shot forward, then turned them onto their side. One more loop, a rise, a dip, and then rose above everything, making them go right next to a track they’d just passed. 

Kaz was breathing very hard but not speaking, or yelling, his face frozen into surprised panic. Then, as they went high enough to view a large amount of the amusement park flashing under their feet, he smiled. Small, almost not even there, but for a moment, he didn’t seem so scared.

Inej laughed happily, promising herself to kiss him later.

They finally came to a jarred stop that made them crash against their guard, and one by one, they were let off. Kaz stumbled a bit and went to search for his cane in the possessions. Sometimes she forgot he even used his cane, as it was such a part of him is was hardly worth acknowledging when it wasn’t cracking someone’s bones. She was used to it. It was part of life. 

They walked around for a few minutes, both trying to catch their breath. Kaz looked at her as they sat on a bench and waited for the flying seats to lessen up line-wise. “I’m surprised we didn’t die,”

“Whatever, Kaz,” she kissed his cheek, and he sighed, leaning against the back of the chair. Inej glanced at him up and down. He was wearing a black hoodie, not the one he’d gotten from Nina but an old one, with dark blue long sleeve underneath and jeans. She herself had forgone the waistcoat before heading back out to go to the amusement park when dropping their school supplies at home and put on a big gray hoodie over her clothes to keep her warm. If the cane wasn’t a tip off, Kaz’s coat was, and Inej didn’t really feel like wearing the waistcoat without him matching.

He held her hand and let the weak Winter rays fall on his face. “I think that made me more regretful than making a deal with Van Eck,”

“Oh shush, you know that’s not true,”

He shrugged, brushed his lips on her hand, then motioned for her to get up. “C’mon, let’s get churros while we wait.”

“I am more than okay with that,”

 

* * *

 

“Are these chains even stable? Why do we have to go so far up? Who though it would be a good idea to create flying chairs?”

“They’re stable, Kaz. And I don’t know,”

“I’m not so sure.”

“It’s only like 17 stories high… Okay, that’s a lot but still,”

“Inej, I might literally be able to see our house from here, and that’s in a different  _ city _ ,”

 

* * *

 

“So it just spins around and goes up and down?”

“Pretty much. But still buckle up. Don’t want you flying off, Kaz,”

“Okay…”

“This is fun!”

“Inej, I am literally weightless right now.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m not going on that,”

“Fucking finally! Inej, that is practically a miracle. Thank goodness you’re sane enough not to go on a circle. Seriously, they are holding those people upside down. I would not be okay with all the blood in my body going to my head,”

“On second thought…”

“No, please, seriously, it’s a  _ circle _ ,”

“And look Kaz, there’s only 20 people in line!”

“I hate everything.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m not getting on that ride. I don’t do water,”

“Kaz, we live in Ketterdam,”

“And it is currently Winter. We might get sick. No water,”

“But—”

“Inej, I am not getting sick,”

“Fiiinnneee. Mostly because I’d feel guilty otherwise,”

“Feel remorse for everything else you’ve made me do!”

 

* * *

 

“Tower of Doom? That doesn’t seem so bad,”

“Kaz, look at it,”

“Oh, so you don’t want to do  _ this _ ? Why, Inej? Have people actually, finally, died on this one?”

“…”

“Ghezen, they have,”

“You still want to go on it?”

“…”

“Kaz you can’t possibly want to go on the one ride that has actually killed people!”

“I’ll go by myself,”

“Ahhh….Fine. I’ll go. I leave everything to the lizard,”

“We don’t—”

“Exactly.”

“I—You know what, that’s fair. Let’s get on though,”

 

* * *

 

“This is totally cliché,” Inej said as they watched the city light up below them. It was only about 7 at night, but the sky was pitch black, and they had stepped onto the Ferris wheel a few minutes earlier. “I like it though,”

Kaz raised an eyebrow. “Cliché? Why?”

“I’m not about to explain romance novels and movies to you, but trust me when I say it’s cliché,”

“Nina?” he questioned.

“Nina,” she nodded. She stood up and went to his side of the small cabin, and it swayed. Kaz frowned for a moment.

“What?”

“It’s not even,”

She snorted. “It wasn’t even when I was on that side anyway. I’m like a hundred pounds, one-ten or something. You weight double as much as I do,”

“But it was closer to being balanced.”

“Calm down, Kaz. Look outside,” she bit her cotton candy then handed some to Kaz, who bit some off as well. 

The whole city glittered below them, the Ferris wheel being ridiculously high, and it was like looking at a starry sky on the ground, the lights creating their own constellations.

“Okay, that is pretty neat,” he admitted. “It looks really different from Ketterdam. No canals,”

“It’s because we’re farther inland.” Inej said. She leaned against him, holding his hand. Kaz glanced at her, the lights on the Ferris wheel reflecting in his dark eyes. 

“Inland, yet we’re in the sky,”

Inej grinned. “We’re flying,”

“I don’t know about  _ flying _ ,” he said. “But it feels pretty cool to be above the whole world like this,”

“You’re always above the whole world.”

“Well, you  _ are _ pretty short,”

Inej laughed, not flustered, but pleased. “Watch out, Dirtyhands. Can’t have people thinking I’m your whole world in Ketterdam,”

“I don’t think they’d dare comment, considering you’re the most dangerous woman in Ketterdam, and I’m the most dangerous man. Seems like a good pair to me,”

Inej kissed him lightly. “True enough,” she muttered as he held her. 

 

* * *

 

“Ice skating?” Inej looked around the ice rink, which was outside but had a glass covering on top of it. “That’s what you were doing on the train? Getting us tickets to go ice skating?”

“Yes?”

“You sound unsure,”

Kaz sighed. “Yes, it was, but I wasn’t sure if I should,”

“Is this because the rest of the group and I have become way to passionate about figure skating since the Ice Games started?”

The Ice Games were held every three years, when groups from all the countries and all ethnicities met to compete in games that usually included ice and snow, held in Fjerda. The Water Games were more Summer-like, or indoors, like with gymnastics, and went from country to country, and were also done every three years, but were a year behind the Ice Games. They were super fun to watch, and Nina had gushed about the figure skating. Inej herself was more interested in the Water Games, but she had to admit, after Nina had her watch the first run of figure skaters, she was hooked. Now, thanks to watching the Games every night for the last week and a half, she knew more than she’d ever expected to about figure skating. 

“Possibly,” Kaz said. “Warning you now though: I doubt I’ll be doing much then just normal skating. I  _ am _ a cripple,”

He liked to use that oldish term to describe his bad leg, and Inej preferred it to ‘disabled’, because Kaz was anything but. Still, sometimes she wished it wasn’t broken. It was part of his legend, but he would be better off in a fight without the burden. Then again, his cane was quite the crusher of bones…

“Okay. I can’t really say I’ll be doing much more than that. I’ve only done this like trice before,” Inej admitted. “I sucked horribly the first time. It wasn’t pretty,”

“Inej, you can make sharpening a blade look graceful, so I highly doubt that,”

She stared at him, but he kept walking, not batting an eyelash. 

“Let’s get our skates,” he called back to her. She made a nose of affirmation and caught up with him.

He grabbed her hand. 

 

* * *

 

“And…push!” Inej pushed herself off the wall, trying to balance on the thin blades. Her legs drew apart somehow, so she tried to turn her feet to skate towards herself. The skates didn’t move at first, then decided to ram into each other. She fell on her butt. Kaz glided over to her, offering her a hand.

“You’re better than me,” she noted as she took it to get up.

“I’ve done this  _ four _ times,”

“How’d that happen?”

“Robbing someone. Although I’ve only done it once after my leg broke,” 

They wobbled together for a moment.  Inej drew back a bit, spreading her arms out to not fall on him and make them both go down. Kaz watched her, amused. He went around in a lazy circle. “Act like you’re on roller blades,”

“With roller blades, you aren’t cutting through anything. It’s hard on ice,”

“Not going to disagree. But still, try,” 

Inej did, and one of her legs veered way in, and her blades almost hit each other again. “Saints, this is hard,”

Kaz grabbed her hands turned her, then gave her a small push on her back. “Keep your legs straight and I’ll push you. I’d pull you from the front, but neither of us is good enough for that. I cannot skate backwards,”

“Okay…” She did as he said, trying to keep the blades from straying. He pushed her slowly in their little area of the half-empty rink, reaching the other side before circling back. 

It was fun, she had to admit. Inej was unused to not being able to find her balance, and she couldn’t claim she would ever like that, but having to learn was quite the new experience, and she didn’t mind it one bit that Kaz was her teacher.

That was a whole lot different when he tried to teach her how to pick lock a few months after she joined the Dregs. That had been a whole lot of drama. (Kaz sighing every other minute in exasperation, her frustrated under-her-breath curses, the good 10 minutes spent glaring at each other, the locks, and the lock picks with great annoyance. It had been this whole big issue. The other Dregs members had been quite bothered). 

She finally managed to get the blades to move the way she wanted them. After that, it got a whole lot easier.

“Now turn,” Kaz said. 

She stared at him. “Can’t I just keep going straight? Please?”

“Nope,”

“But—”

“Nope.”

And so she learned to turn, about a million bruises later. 

 

* * *

 

“I am never doing that again,” Inej said, flopping herself onto their couch as Kaz turned on the lights of the dark house. 

“Right,” Kaz said, shrugging off his coat and heading over to the kitchen. “Totally obvious from the way that it took me 45 minutes to pull you out of the rink,”

“Shut up,” she sat up, then sighed. “And I have homework to do…”

“It’s only ten,” Kaz pointed out, boiling water for her tea. He stretched his arms over his head as he walked over to her. He kissed her elbow for a moment, were a bruise had started to form where she had fallen. Totally his fault, not her own…

“And it would take two hours,”

“The night will still be young by then,”

“Kaz, it would be midnight,”

“Exactly,”

“You’re insane,”

“I know,”

Inej raised a slow eyebrow at him, and he did it back. She messed with one of her knives that had been in her boot, lazily slashing through the air with it. 

“The others will be back tomorrow morning,” Kaz said, scrolling through his phone as his other hand fiddled with the end of a strand of her hair. “They probably aren’t bothering with homework,”

A look passed over his face. 

“Scheming?” she questioned him lightly.

“Not exactly,” he said, pulling his laptop from the coffee table forward. “Just hacking into your teachers’ accounts, since I did my work yesterday and therefore don’t need to worry, and erasing everything that documented them giving assignments and instead putting down that there was no homework. Online stuff, right?”

She stared at him, mouth open, then nodded. 

“Cool, I’ll just unsubmit all your classmates’ work…”

“Kaz!”

“What? They aren’t  _ losing _ it. I’m not  _ deleting _ it. I’m just marking that there isn’t anything submitted, because the teacher never assigned something to be submitted in the first place,” he smirked at his computer screen as he pressed a few keys.

“I can’t tell if I’m mad or not,” Inej said. “I know it’s wrong, but Saints I didn’t want to do that work,”

“You can pay me later,” he chuckled. 

“What?” Inej frowned.

“I technically just did a job for you,”

“…”

Kaz looked at her, entertained. 

“What exactly am I supposed to pay you with, Dirtyhands?” she grumbled a few moments later. 

He shrugged.

“Carrots.” Inej bumped him. 

“I hate carrots.”

“I know. Uhhhh…”

“Hint?” he asked her.

“Sure,”

“Play Portal,”

Inej groaned. She sucked at that game, although Kaz had and still did excel at puzzle games. “But—”

“No buts. You are finally going to understand why Glados is so great, especially in Portal Two. Jesper really likes her in Portal Two,”

“I hate you,”

Kaz kissed the side of her head. “Do you?” he asked quietly.

Inej sighed. She had gotten mad at him before, and she was pretty sure there was a time that Kaz must have thought she hated him back in her earlier years, but… “No,”

Kaz pulled back a little, looking a bit pleased. “But for the rest of the night, we can do whatever. The Portal marathon starts this weekend,”

“Saints save me,”

“Your Saints can’t help you now, Inej.”

She grumbled and punished him by making him sit through two episodes of a random rom-com on TV before she finally relented to playing a dozen games.

They fell asleep on the couch, his computer open to a skateboarding game in between their legs, her head on his shoulder and his head on top of her own, their blanket keeping them warm as the lack of lights, which they had turned off while playing a horror game, swathed them in darkness.

That was a pretty damn good Valentines’ Day. 

 

**Birthdays:**

**The idea was given to me by a user called** **_ilikegaypeople_ ** **, who recommended finding fitting zodiacs and choosing a day under that zodiac. Problems: Nina is older than Kaz which I didn’t want to happen, and Kaz’s birthday is in December, so it already passed, so maybe I’ll make it that no one knew, not even Inej.**

 

**Jesper**

**Aries, April 14** **th** **, 1997**

**Good Traits: Energetic, dynamic, quick-witted.**

**Bad Traits: Impulsive, foolhardy, daredevil.**

 

**Kaz**

**Capricorn, December 28** **th** **, 1997**

**Good Traits: Practical, patient, reserved.**

**Bad Traits: Pessimistic, grudging, rigid.**

 

**Matthias**

**Cancer, June 28** **th** **, 1996**

**Good Traits: Loving, cautious, protective.**

**Bad Traits: Moody, touchy, unable to let go.**

 

**Wylan**

**Virgo, August 30** **th** **, 1998**

**Good Traits: Modest, reliable, intelligent.**

**Bad Traits: Worrier, perfectionist, conservative.**

 

**Nina**

**Sagittarius, November 2** **nd** **, 1997**

**Good Traits: Straightforward, intellectual, freedom-loving.**

**Bad Traits: Irresponsible, restless, careless.**

 

**Inej**

**Leo, July 29** **th** **, 1998**

**Good Traits: Generous, broad-minded, faithful.**

**Bad Traits: Patronizing, dogmatic, intolerant.**


	17. Flashback and Scheming Face and Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, we get a peek into what happened right after Kaz took Inej out of the Menagerie (flashback), some of the ways that Kaz treats new initiates into the Dregs, and we get to see a glimpse of Kaz’s mind. This is kind of filler, but I urge you read it because there are still plenty of important things in it! Also, we get to see some Jesper x Kaz x Inej friendship!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited!

**Kaz**

 

Kaz wiped the blood off his gloves with a rag, staring at the fainted person in front of him. It was only a little torture. But apparently they were no good with their own blood. At least they had spit out the information he needed before passing out.

He gestured for some new Dregs members to come clean up the mess. It was necessary that they knew his ruthlessness, so he usually brought a few along to the abandoned warehouse that smelled of rust and blood, where most of the Dregs’ hostage and torture situations took place.

“Clean it up,” he nodded at the floor as he grabbed the man’s collar and dragged him across the floor to a locked room for him. 

They nodded, a hard glint in their eyes, although they were pale. Kaz smiled to himself. The Dregs, once upon a time the loser gang of Ketterdam, was filled, brimming with people, teenagers and young adults, all dangerous. Older people in other gangs thought it was ridiculous, but they rarely made a move against Kaz and the Dregs. After all, they made the kids that cruel. Pekka Rollins, during his reign of the Barrel, had destroyed everyone. The ones who survived that, and even in outer countries during wars, lived through slavery or trekked by themselves to safety from ruins, they all had to thank their predecessors for their hard eyes. 

He remembered something Nina had once told them, from her ex-teacher Genya Safin. Nina had been able to finally explain what had happened during her earlier time with Ketterdam to Genya through a series of long phone calls, untraceable thanks to Kaz, and Genya had been impressed. Especially with what had happened to Jarl Brum. She told Nina of something Genya had told Ravka’s old King long ago, when giving a new light to the dark nickname people had given her. The King called her Ruined.

_ I am not ruined. I am ruination. _

That described the generation Kaz lead. They had been broken and bloodied and could never go back, but they weren’t deficit. They were the ruination of people like Pekka Rollins and Jan Van Eck.

Kaz smirked at that, wiping blood from his cheek as he headed back out to the room where the new members, a girl and two boys, talked over the bloody mops they were using.

“Inej,” he called out.

The three startled when Inej materialized by them. She smiled at Kaz, although she did look at the blood distastefully. Never one for torture, although she could do it just fine. “Done?”

“Pretty much. You know their names?” he gestured at the teens, all around 15 although none of them knew their exact ages.

“Yenu,” she pointed at the Shu boy, who had unusual dark coloring, “Elia,” the Zemeni girl, “and Vers,” the Zemeni boy. 

They all nodded, studying her. They had been on a slavers ship that had capsized near Kerch and had made it to land. None of them knew each other prior to the meeting, although all were from Novyi Zem, even the Shu boy.  _ Guess that makes him Zemeni. Maybe one of his parents is Shu. _

( **Random characters, not a reference to anything** ). 

Kaz had been watching them for a few weeks before inviting them to the Slat one night and asking them to join. They had hid in several alleys, all previous homeless kids. They knew how to steal and did so, although they were a bit eye catching due to their features. 

Elia was good in a fight though, far more vicious then her traveling companions. One boy had tried to force themselves on her. Him and Inej were watching from the rooftops, Inej tense and about to jump and beat the living daylights out of him, but the girl had slashed and kicked and punched and bitten (Inej had been a bit confused when Kaz told her that it was a pretty good strategy, to bite. And it was. It had helped Kaz out when he was much younger.), and the boy had run from the alley.

Vers had a sweet face, with big green eyes that were startling again his dark skin, and an easy smile. He would sit at the corner looking helpless, and with a good eye he’d pick out the more naïve tourists, the pigeons, and ask for food, for money. He managed to spin a good story every time, an innocent flattered all round. Like a mix between Wylan and Jesper, seeming helpless and innocent but always charismatic and flattering. 

Yenu liked throwing things. He threw rocks at makeshift targets, fond rubber bands and launched paper, found twigs and strings and rocks to make slingshots. He had great aim, good hand-to-eye coordination, and at night he would perch in the shadows, not blending in like Inej but just hiding himself, and throw a rock at a lonely passerby’s head. Usually knocked out or dazed, one of the other two kids would come out and grab whatever they could find. Yenu was probably also the best pickpocket, although Elia was the lock pick. 

He thought to train them and make them even tougher than they had been. A few days after he first took them to the Slat, they agreed to join.

Inej had yet to introduce herself though, still following them around. Kaz didn’t know why, and he hadn’t asked. Now, though, she wasn’t fading, so he figured it’d be fine. 

“I’m Inej Ghafa,” she told them, pocketing a bloodied knife. Kaz tilted his head, and she shrugged. “What? Some drunk wouldn’t leave the Crow Club, was causing trouble, and he didn’t listen to me. Just cut him up a bit,”

“Hmm.” Kaz had to admit that he liked the new back and forth between their personalities with each other. Business partners and more personal partners. Yet neither got in the way of the other. It was easy when someone was a monster like you. You didn’t have to hide as much. (Although Inej was still Saintly compared to him). “As long as no blood got on the floorboards,”

“Maybe a drop or two. Jesper dabbed it up with a napkin, no problem.”

“Oh well.”

Elia tilted her head at Inej. “You’re the Wraith girl people are always talking about,”

“I am,” Inej nodded. “People in the Barrel really love their nicknames, right Dirtyhands?”

Kaz shrugged as he slipped on his coat and headed out. “Nina and Matthias and Jesper and Wylan don’t have one. Done cleaning? Come on then,”

“Heartrender, convict, sharpshooter, runaway,”

“That’s who they are, not Barrel-names. And Matthias is an  _ ex _ -convict. I broke him out of prison, so he doesn’t count anymore. And he’s been out for a long time,”

“Fine, Kaz. Plus what would Nina and Jesper be called? Cupid for Jesper and Enchantress for Nina?”

“Something like that. They could probably flirt this whole town into submission.”

“Matthias once told me we should consider doing that instead of all your plans,”

“It might actually work,” Kaz noted, smirking at Inej a little, who laughed. She wasn’t wearing her waistcoat at the moment, sticking to her old black jacket, because she didn’t want to get any of the ‘blood smell’ on it. 

The other three, Vers and Elia and Yenu, looked at each other confused as they quickly dried the floor and stuck everything into a closet, before following them outside. There was a slight snowfall, being the end of February still, and they shivered, wearing only thin hoodies. They would be able to participate in smaller jobs soon, still technically being only grunts, and then they’d be able to buy their own clothes. Kaz wasn’t going to buy it for them. They needed to understand Ketterdam’s cold.

The only case when he  _ had _ bought a new initiate clothes was with Inej after he first bought off her indenture, and that was mostly because the silks she was wearing barely counted as clothes and he didn’t want to catch anyone’s attention. People said Kaz was a bawd, but he was hardly interested in feeding  _ that _ rumor. He  _ had _ added it to her debt though.

 

* * *

 

 

_ The girl put her arms around herself, shivering in the cold air of Ketterdam as the harbor air blew in. They were heading towards a cheap clothes shop not too far away from the House of Exotics, since he told her they needed to get her actual clothes. _

_ The girl, Inej, looked around. She had bronze Suli skin, black hair reaching some ways past her shoulders, oil-black eyelashes and brown eyes, a bit haunted. Pretty, Kaz admitted to himself, but from the way she averted her eyes from anyone on the street who took an interest to her, he doubted she wanted to hear it. And he wasn’t interested in saying it. _

_ She did look around most of the time though. _

_ “Never seen the city?” he asked after she startled when they passed rows of glittering gambling houses. She’d also stared at the light rail like it was a sort of alien machine, and flinched when she heard cars rumbling.  _

_ “This…is not city,” she said, frowning. She had spoken Kerch clearly enough at the Menagerie, but now she seemed nervous, not completely sure of her speech. He imagined that she didn’t know much Kerch anyway, only what she’d learned from the other girls and her customers, and Tante Heleen. “This is Barrel. And when I had run, I did not make it far,” _

_ The bitterness in her voice was clear. Kaz could use that anger for something. _

_ Kaz shrugged. “The Barrel helps run the city. It’s enough of the same thing. The only part that isn’t is maybe the University district,” _

_ “University?” Inej tried out the word. She frowned, shook her head. _

_ She probably didn’t know what that meant. _

_ “Big school,” Kaz finally decided on. “Where you train to get a proper job,” _

_ Some of her confusion cleared, but her eyes were skeptical. “Ketterdam, trains in jobs? No. Ketterdam has no good jobs,” _

_ Kaz was tempted to agree. They rounded another corner, and Inej winced when a boy cat called out to her. “Pretty girl, aren’t you cold? I can warm you up if you’d like!” _

_ Inej kept her head down, and Kaz saw her fists clench. He tilted his head. “You’re going to let him get away with that?” _

_ “No displeasing,” she mumbled. “Men, they beat us. Me. We bleed, because we do not agree,” _

_ “You’re not at the Menagerie anymore,” he told her. “You can glare and punch and kick, and as long as you can defend yourself, it’s fine,” _

_ She looked at him. “Not so easy. Maybe I kick you though,” _

_ He was surprised at that. “I wouldn’t recommend it. I am helping you, you know. And I’m Kaz Brekker too. I don’t have any qualms about hurting a girl,” _

_ He wasn’t planning on hurting her though. No point in ruining a new investment.  _

_ She frowned when he said ‘qualms’, but seemed to otherwise get the message. She sniffed at him. “You all hurt. Everyone hurt everyone else. City of stupid people. And if you were helping, you walk faster. For clothes,” _

_ That was amusing. They reached the store, as Kaz did agree to walk faster, and the woman running the place doted on Inej immediately. She looked over to Kaz. “Ah, Brekker, Asty didn’t know you had a taste for Suli! What will Asty be getting her?” _

_ “I don’t have a taste, actually.” he said flatly. “And clothes that cover her up. Boots and a sweater too,” _

_ “Cover her up? But isn’t she the prettiest little darling?” _

_ She reached out to touch Inej’s shoulder, and Inej flinched violently, stepping back, face afraid. Understanding passed over the lady, an old Ravkan woman with gold teeth called Asty.  _

_ She studied Inej. “Ah, she’s one of those girls. Turn, dear, show Asty your shoulder,” _

_ Inej hesitated, but when Kaz did not disagree, she did. _

_ Asty clucked. “Ah, that mean woman, that so-called Peacock. Hmm, yes, Asty will find good clothes, to cover your skin, and cover your tattoo.” Asty scurried to the back of the store. _

_ Inej nodded, confused. She turned to Kaz. “How you know nice lady?” _

_ “Do you believe I know no nice people?” _

_ She nodded without hesitating. _

_ Kaz raised a brow. “Fair enough. Asty is okay. Nice some days. But she had quite the mean side,” _

_ “How you know?” _

_ “One day I came in and she was poisoning some Stadwatch officer who’d been annoying her lately.” _

_ Inej blinked, her mouth partially open. She considered that, and after a moment asked, “She scares you?” _

_ “No. She’s just an old woman now. Fierce, but she can hardly protect herself.” He didn’t tell her that almost nothing scared him anymore. And  _ if _ something made him apprehensive, he usually killed it.  _

_ “Hmm,” Inej stepped around the store, and Kaz watched the bells on her silks move, but she didn’t create a sound. Her feet, bare and red with cold, didn’t even stir the dust on the ground or make the old wooden floor creak. Silent, like a ghost. _

_ She glanced back at him, wary of turning her back. At least, he thought, she wasn’t completely naïve. She probably didn’t understand too much of what she saw, but she wasn’t taking chances either. _

_ Asty came back and pushed clothes into Inej’s arms, careful not to touch her skin, then shoved her inside a dressing room. “Hurry, dear, Asty wants to know if it works!” _

_ There was some startled and muffled affirmation, although it didn’t sound Kerch. Maybe she’d accidentally responded in Suli. _

_ Kaz waited impatiently, watching as Asty jumped from foot to foot, surprisingly agile at her age. He tapped down his cane in annoyance, and she glared at him half-heartedly before stopping. _

_ Inej came out a few minutes later, in all black, jeans and a long sleeve, with a black wool sweater and black boots. She stared down at her feet. “No feet sweaters in long time,” _

_ “Feet sweater?” Asty asked. _

_ “I don’t know its name. The soft things on my feet,” she said something in Suli, and Asty blinked. Inej seemed to be calming down enough to consider grammar a bit more _

_ “Ah, Asty did take Suli long ago. Socks! You mean socks. You haven’t worn socks in a long time?” _

_ Inej nodded, while Kaz laughed inside his head, keeping his face stoic.  _ Feet sweaters? 

_ “Thank you,” Inej said, the words seemingly odd in her mouth. She probably didn’t use them often. _

_ Purple, Kaz thought, did fit her better, but Inej seemed more than happy when Asty put the silks in the trash. Kaz lazily checked the time on his phone, waiting for the eventual question. _

_ “So is Dirtyhands gonna pay, or will he leave Asty’s shop with no money spent?” _

_ “Down, Asty,” he said, handing her some money. “I’m paying,” _

_ Asty grinned, her golden teeth flashing, before shooing them out. “Bye, Brekker, bye dearie. Asty likes you, girl, come by sometime!” _

_ They stepped out, and Kaz look at Inej. “Don’t. She likes to mess with tinctures and feed them to people,” _

_ “She did it to you?” _

_ “I’m smart enough not to take things from old ladies, Inej.” She startled when he said her name. Used to Lynx, probably. “I’ve spied on her before, that’s how I know,” _

_ “I thought you were a thief,” _

_ “I can still spy. Plus, I didn’t always have a broken leg,” Kaz shrugged. “Hardly matters though. The leg doesn’t do much other than marking me a cripple,” _

_ “Cripple?” _

_ “Someone with a broken bone or badly set bone,” Kaz momentarily felt like a dictionary. _

_ They headed towards the Slat, and Kaz told her to memorize the surrounding area they passed. _

_ “Oh, and,” Kaz said before they entered. “You  _ are _ paying me back for those clothes. I usually don’t buy anyone anything, and you aren’t going to be an exception. Couldn’t have you walking around half-naked, but still,” _

_ The glare he got in response confirmed she understood just fine. She muttered something under her breath in Suli, and Kaz had a feeling that it wasn’t anything pleasant. _

 

* * *

 

He chuckled to himself now, thinking of the memory. Quite the investment she turned out to be. 

“What?” Inej asked, walking next to him.

“Feet sweaters,”

Inej rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know what they were called, okay?”

She turned to the three teens behind them. “You all sort of know Kerch, right?”

They nodded. Elia spoke up. “Zemeni is best,”

Inej nodded. “Guess we’ll be needing Jesper and Nina’s help.”

She paused. “And don’t make fun if they say something wrong.”

“I didn’t make fun of  _ you _ , did I?”

“A few times, actually,”

“It was amusing,” Kaz laughed at her disgruntled expression. “Well, to the Slat. You’ll follow Inej.”

Vers was half-way through nodding when he frowned. “Um, she…is gone?”

They looked around for a minute before Kaz pointed her out to them on top a rooftop. “This is a test: See is you can follow her all the way to the Slat, by rooftop. If you know you can’t make a jump she did, and trust me, there will be a point that you can’t, just go on foot for that part and start climbing later.”

They all stared at him. “How do we get up there?” Yenu asked.

Kaz shrugged. “That’s the first part. Get up there. You’re lucky it’s Inej testing you though. She’ll probably pause to say a prayer over your cracked head on the floor. I’d just move on,”

They all paled, and Inej called down. “You aren’t going to die! Ignore Kaz, he’s just a pessimist!”

“It’s called being a realist, Wraith!”

“Same difference!”

Kaz shook his head. “Not really!” he turned to the teens. “Well, there you go. She isn’t one with reality,”

Inej shouted down a curse before laughing, and Kaz just waved before moving on. There were some indignant sounds from Vers and Elia, while Yenu just looked a bit queasy looking up at were Inej was.

For the kid’s sake, Kaz hoped he wasn’t scared of heights.

 

* * *

 

“Boss, we’ve been thinking,” Anika said, leaning over his desk with Pim behind her. 

Kaz was tempted to say,  _ you can do that? _ but he relatively liked Anika, and since she rarely came up with suggestions, he bothered to listen.

“So it’s been getting crowded here at the Slat,”

“Right,”

“And more and more people are sharing rooms, and they are tiny rooms,”

“I’m well aware,”

“So more fights are breaking out within the gang,”

“Mmhmm,”

“And it’s annoying,”

Kaz rolled his eyes toward Heaven. “Anika, get to the point,”

“So we either kick people out or expand the Slat, and I’m not sure which one is the better idea, and I thought I should bring it up,”

Kaz nodded. There had been a bit more trouble, he knew, and Anika was smart to notice it. If they built more for the Slat or bought another area, it’d cost money and it might result in it being harder, a tad bit but still, to watch everyone. 

If they kicked people out, they’d get annoyed. Plus, there were very few people  _ to _ kick out. Everyone was needed. He’d gotten rid most of Per Haskell’s old washed up birds and anyone who caused significant trouble over the years. Many of the members that had been loyal to Haskell had gone over to Kaz’s fight, but there were still some rebels which had been neatly executed by Kaz. He never let anyone else kill them. 

He hadn’t killed Haskell, because annoyingly enough Kaz was grateful to the man, but if Kaz ever saw him again, the old man would be dead in an instant. He felt no such gratitude to the stupid minions, so he killed them to show them their mistake before death took them. He didn’t leave them alive in case they tried to cause a revolt. Nothing he couldn’t handle, but it was better to make things easier on himself. 

He considered, then shrugged. “I’ll think about a more permanent resolution. For now…” he hesitated. “Open up the attic,”

The attic, the whole floor and its rooms, had been Kaz’s when he still lived at the Slat. He’d long cleaned it out except for a few remaining things that hardly mattered, and old chair, a bed frame, similar things. He’d avoided opening up mostly for foolish sentimental reasons, but if wasn’t in use, and they needed space.

Anika blinked. “You sure, Boss? You said you didn’t—”

“I know what I said, Anika. Changed my mind. We need space, so we’ll do it,”

Pim, who had been mostly quiet, tapped his foot. “We was thinking this other thing, Boss,”

“Do tell,”

“What if we held a competition?”

Kaz tilted his face. “Explain,”

“Like, we get the spiders and the pick pockets and the lock picks and the shooters and the distractors and the demo guys and the muscle and all, and we see whose best. Depending on how many of them there are, we keep the top 5 or so,”

Kaz considered it. He’d exclude Vers and Elia and Yenu from it, because he was sure they could lead to some pretty useful stuff with training, but it made sense, to keep the best of the best. The six of them, Inej, Nina, Jesper, Wylan, Matthias, and Kaz, would be the examples whoever got closest to times or efficiency or aim would win. Top five to top 15, considering how many pick pockets and lock picks they had, and how few spiders…

If somebody failed…Could Kaz kick them out? Your gang was your family, and he didn’t really want to cause trouble in this one. Maybe they could make it so that they weren’t kicked out; they just couldn’t sleep at the Slat. Hmm…Maybe the competition wouldn’t be necessary and they could pull straws and whoever was unlucky enough would have to build more space on the Slat.

“Aaaannndd why is Kaz scheming?” 

Anika and Pim startled while Kaz just looked to his side suddenly. He’d been too focused to notice Inej’s presence in the room, and she was sitting on the edge of his desk, glancing at everyone.

Anika let out a breath. “Wraith, girl, don’t scare me like that. We were talking about the Dregs’ member problem,”

“We’re pretty full, huh?”

Maybe only the last three competitors got kicked out, instead of whoever didn’t make it into the top whatever? That’d be…about 21 members if they made lock picking and pick pocketing to different areas…

“Pretty much. We’re in here brainstorming while everyone down there is messing around,” Anika grumbled.

What if they just killed off a few people so that no one could get revenge? Or study the groups and send a bunch of the worst performers on a suicide mission and claim that it was because none of them were good enough?

Kaz wondered if anyone might  _ want _ to leave, but he knew it wasn’t a possibility seconds after he thought it. They were all given the choice to join, and plus, the Dregs were surprisingly hospitable. They had much better resources than every other gang in the city.

“So how did those new kids do, Wraith?”

“Uhh…Half and half, Pim, half and half,”

Kaz  _ had _ gotten a lot of knew territory after everything with Pekka Rollins. Maybe if he found a place and set up Anika and Keeg or Pim to watch over, that’d be good. Or maybe keep Anika here and Keeg and Pim got to the new place? And if there was too much trouble from anyone, out they go?

Maybe stricter rules, so if anyone broke them they’d be kicked out, and everyone would know it was that person’s own fault?

“Any of them hurt?”

“Not really. Yenu opened up his knees when landing a few times at Elia hurt her ankles some, but nothing serious. Vers just scratched his hands,”

“So no future spiders in the making?”

“Ehh, maybe Vers? I don’t know. They were all really relieved once they were back on the ground,”

_ Or _ they could get a basement for the Slat. Open up the attic, get a basement, and maybe add some stuff to the sides…

“He’s still scheming, huh?”

“Yes, Pim, that is indeed our Boss’ scheming face,”

“I love how Jesper and mine’s joke is just used by everyone. It drives Kaz a bit crazy though when he’s down there and thinking and twenty people all go ‘Scheming face!’”

He liked that idea best. And maybe they could still have a competition, but the people who lost had to take the worst places. The people who built or helped built got the newer areas.

If they expanded only the Slat, they’d be fine, since they weren’t getting a whole new place.

Maybe they shouldn’t get any new initiates after those three.

Kaz blinked. Those three. Right. He looked up at Inej. “Anyone dead?”

“Hello to you too, Kaz.” She smiled. “No, they’re alive. Scratched up, but alive,”

“Any of them do any good?”

“Yenu said he doesn’t like heights, but he did alright. Elia was all over the place and couldn’t land for the life of her. Vers did alright, although he panics sometimes and just grabs whatever. I should have probably trained them to fall and to jump and everything, but you didn’t want me too,”

“Wanted to see if they have any natural talent,”

“And to torture them,”

“That too,”

Anika cleared her throat. “So, Brekker, open the attic and…?”

Kaz sighed. “Open the attic for now, like I said. We’ll get in a building crew, some Fabrikators too, to make a basement. We’ll hole up in one of my warehouses when they start building. After that’s done, some people, we can either hire some more building people or get our own members to do it, will build areas connected to the sides, into the alleys on either side of us.”

“The shop owners next to us won’t like it,”

“What will they do about it? Kill them if they cause a hassle,” Kaz shrugged. “We can still have a competition, so anyone who does badly gets the worst places. That way, people will continue to step up their games instead of just sitting their placidly, so everyone will be sharpening themselves to do better. People who built or help built will get the best spots after they’ve finished, but after the, say, third competition, we could hold one every month or so, they’d have to move out if they couldn’t keep up. How about it?”

They were all quiet for a moment before Anika threw up her hands, half-impressed and half-annoyed. “People, the power of the scheming face! What was that, seven minutes? And you got it all figured out?”

Kaz decided not to point out he considered killing people.

 

* * *

  
  


“How long are you going to work?” Inej yawned from the arm chair in the corner of his office. 

“Hmm?” Kaz looked up. They were still at the Slat, after Kaz had announced everything he needed to about the members problem. Most people had agreed, so it was underway, the attic already opened up.

“Bills, bills, and more bills,” Inej said, tapping on her phone. Kaz compared her to the scared girl she had been all those years ago, and had a hard time finding her, the girl who had walked barefoot in silks, her arms around her, frightened, angry. “Contracts and bills and numbers and plans. You writing down the information from this morning?”

“No need to write it down. He gave us the address, and that’s all we needed. I’ll be returning him tomorrow,”

There was a knock at the door, and Inej stretched and went to open it. Jesper popped his head in. 

“Hey Jes,” Kaz greeted.

“Hey. So, are we heading back home soon? Nina and Wylan are asleep, but Matthias keeps texting me to hurry up,” he walked in and closed the door behind him.

Kaz shrugged. “Maybe half an hour. Mind helping?”

A smile tugged at Jesper’s lips. “Sure, but what about Inej?”

“He already tried to rope me into sorting through the papers,” Inej said, handing Jesper some chips Kaz and her had been eating.

“I see he failed,” Jesper chuckled. “Paper work is not your forte, huh, Inej?”

“Nope. I hate signing things,”

Probably because of the Menagerie…

Jesper shrugged. “Oh well. If I can read a book to Wylan for three hours straight, I can handle this. Quite the stack of paper though. Hand some over, handsome,”

Kaz made a face at Jesper. “Not even funny, Jes.”

“Not one bit?” 

“Not one bit.”

Still, Kaz handed him about half the last stack. “Just sign wherever it says to, I already read over them. You’re a Dregs Lieutenant, so put your name if you want, although mine works too.”

Jesper nodded. Although he had trouble sitting still and doing assignments, he had a lot of experience helping Wylan out with paper work. He was also a lot better since he started practicing sitting down and staying put, so he wasn’t always changing directions or something. Still, the energy was part of him. Good to point it in the direction of work when Kaz could.

Jesper and Kaz worked quickly, occasionally asking Inej or each other for an opinion on a paper, while she answered. Kaz noticed she was wide awake despite her charade of being sleepy. Really, they all liked to act sleepy and tired as Hell, but after all of them having experienced several days without sleep, it was hard to actually feel sleepy at one in the morning. 

“Done,” he said some time later, putting down his paper and stretching back, arms over his head. Inej watched him, amused, and Jesper held up a finger as he signed off two more papers before looking up and smiling. 

“Same. C’mon, everyone here is either asleep or at the Crow Club, so there’s no one to bother us walking out.” Jesper handed Inej her shoes, since she didn’t like putting them on the chair, and Kaz killed the fire that was going on the other end of his rather spacious office. He missed his attic, but the attic had not had a fireplace. 

Inej stood up and grabbed an extra coat she always kept there while Jesper slid his own on. Kaz had to admit he liked it when it was just the three of them. Jesper wasn’t trying to be wild and absolutely crazy. Inej wasn’t playing around with Nina or whispering with Wylan. It reminded Kaz of not too long after Jesper joined the Dregs, maybe a few months. Both Kaz and Inej had gotten close to him probably easier than they should have, as he was just such an easy person to like, and many people had observed Kaz’s solo become a duo with Inej, and then a trio when Jesper came along, with surprise. 

Jesper drove, fast like always, but noticeably more attentive and careful. He had been ever since he almost crashed Nina and Inej (which had made Kaz furious). Kaz went passenger while Inej hung out in the back, and he felt like he was reliving a million of their smaller jobs so long ago. 

Jesper broke the silence. “Anyone want to get to-go Blizzard from Dairy Queen?”

“ _ Yes _ ,” Inej smiled. “It’s been ages since I last had the Oreo cookie one,”

Kaz smiled to himself, looking at the window. “Sure,” 

It had been a tradition, started by Jesper when he claimed he needed ice cream, to get Blizzards when it was just the three of them. It hadn’t happened in…well over half a year, actually. Wow. They had hid all evidence from the other Dregs members, and even the other three, and it had been quite the fun experience despite Kaz not wanting it to be.

 

* * *

 

_ Kaz and Inej glanced at each other as Jesper drove recklessly through the dark night, streetlights flashing above them. He was driving fast, and Kaz had looked back to see Inej being thrown from side to side like a rag doll. She eventually put her seat belt on, although she didn’t like them, and was now holding on to the ceiling handle for dear life. His lips twitched in amusement.  _

_ Jesper apologized. “Sorry, this is just how I drive. I don’t even know how I got my license. But it’s quite the roller coaster, isn’t it?” he put his window down. _

_ Kaz wouldn’t have known, never having gone on one, but he knew what Jesper meant. “I’m pretty sure that in any other country, we would be in jail right now,” _

_ “I thought breaking the law was your thing,” _

_ Kaz shrugged, putting down his own window. It was a cool Summer night, Inej had called it a festival night, and he didn’t feel neither warm nor cold, a sort of perfect temperature.  _

_ “You know,” Inej said. “Maybe just go a little bit slower?” _

_ Kaz laughed inside his head. Like she could judge. She was a speeder herself.  _

_ “Nah. But you know what we should do? We should get some ice cream,” _

_ “Ice cream?” she echoed. Kaz looked at Jesper and raised his eyebrows.  _

_ The sharpshooter took his hands off the wheel and gestured them grandly, making Inej and Kaz tense. “Ice cream. The great, wonderful thing that makes everyone happy,” _

_ “Hands stay down,” Inej scolded.  _

_ “Right,” he did as she said. “Anyway, yeah, we should totally get ice cream. I want ice cream. There was so much stress tonight, and I need ice cream to make it go away,” _

_It_ had _been a rather taxing night. Like, ‘_ having to kill more people than planned _’ sort of taxing._

_ “What kind of ice cream?” Inej asked curiously, leaning forward from behind them. She glanced at Kaz. “I want ice cream,” _

_ He rolled his eyes. It was weird to consider Inej a friend, but he did after her having been in the Dregs for some time over a year. A sort-of friend. He was getting really close to trusting her too much. _

_ He’d considered telling her too many things. He’d revealed some things he shouldn’t have, and he knew she wouldn’t use them against him, but what was he? A teenage girl spilling his secrets to their best friend? _

_ Not happening. It wasn’t his fault that she was always hanging around, at his window when he worked, in the shadows when he walked around, at the table when he ate. A ghost following him, a Wraith. A sort-of friend.  _

_ Because he’d softened and started to trust her, he’d softened and started to trust Jesper too. _

_ But Kaz did like ice cream, like any other sane person when it came to sugar.  _

_ “Dairy Queen,” said Jesper. “Let’s get Blizzards.” _

_ “Blizzards?” both Inej and Kaz asked. _

_ Jesper stared at them. “Oh, you poor things. You don’t know what Blizzards are. Damn the Slat, we’re going,” _

_ He veered off course violently, and they were off towards DQ. _

_ “Flashback to Burger King,” Inej stretched out her seat belt to whisper in Kaz’s ear. _

_ He chuckled. “Except I doubt you’re going to have any Dr. Pepper,” _

_ “Peppah!” _

_ Jesper raised an eyebrow. “Oh, that thing. Yeah, I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again There isn’t any actual pepper in Dr. Pepper.” _

_ “I know!” Inej laughed silently. “It’s just an odd habit,” _

_ “Odd indeed,” Kaz said. _

_ “Shush, Brekker,” _

_ Kaz did not particularly like it when she called him Brekker. Many people did, most of the other gang members referred to him as Lieutenant, Dirtyhands, and Brekker (and Boss when Per Haskell wasn’t around), but Inej almost always referred to Kaz as Kaz.  _

_ It made her feel friendlier that way. ‘Kaz’ was definitely better.  _

_ Jesper hummed to himself, turning nicely into the drive through of a DQ. They peered at the menu. Jesper was getting some weird caramel something or other Blizzard, and Inej and Kaz both settled on the Oreo Blizzard.  _

_ “This reminds me of the milkshake,” Inej reminisced.  _

_ “At least you know how to read menus now.” _

_ “Be quiet,” _

_ Jesper laughed, and they glanced at him. “What?” _

_ “Nothing, really. It’s just that you two are really weird friends,” _

_ “Friends?” _

_ “Well, yeah. You hang out, go out to eat, bicker and have lots of banter, have a ton of inside jokes, have known each other for a while, and seem to like each other’s company okay. Well, I suppose that would be mutual toleration when it comes to you two, because you guys don’t  _ like _ people,” _

_ Inej blinked. “I suppose that would mean we are friends… That’s kind of weird. And I can like people! I like you and Kaz alright,” _

_ Kaz didn’t say anything. She liked him? That was foolish.  _ Sort of friends _ , he told himself.  _ She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. What’s it even like to have actual friends?  _ He hadn’t had an actual friend since he was nine, some kids he half-remembered from before he ever came to Ketterdam. And when you’re little, it’s hard to discern a playmate from a friend. _

_ “Ah, the beauties are here,” Jesper said as he held out his arms to take the Blizzards, winking at the female clerk and handing her some cash. “Sugar beauties,” _

_ They went to a nearby parking lot, empty but for the street lights lighting them and the trees rustling in the breeze. They stepped out of the car and sat on the side walk right next to it under a light. Inej and Kaz cautiously tried their ice cream.  _

_ “Damn,” they said at the same time. _

_ Jesper grinned at the both of them. He looked a bit weird with guns at his hips and ice cream in his hands. He pointed to each of them in turn with his spoon. “You see? Delicious,” _

_ “Agreed,” Inej gave him a little push, smiling. He pushed back a bit too, and they dug into the ice cream.  _

_ Kaz watched his two new sort of friends. Or friends, according to Inej.  _

_ “You know, I’ve never done this with anyone before. My Da and I used to do this all the time way back when though,” Jesper thought out loud. “Quite the weird friends to try it out with. Imagine that! I’m sharing ice cream with two well-known criminals. Of all the people,”  _

_He smiled. “I don’t mind it though. You’re somehow probably the best people to have done this with out of everyone in this city,”_ _  
__“Please don’t start preaching friendship poems or whatever you do when you make friends,” said Kaz._

_ Jesper laughed lightly. “Nah, I ain’t gonna. But I am friends with Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa and I’m eating ice cream with them and I don’t really care,” _

_ “It’s fun,” Inej said suddenly. “I’ve never had friends, just family. It’s fun to hang out with friends,” _

_ Sort of friends. _

_ Sort of friends. _

_ Inej and Jesper toasted each other with their Blizzards, and Kaz just watched the fudge in the middle of his, loving the chocolate flavor. _

_ “C’mon, Kaz, do it,” Inej and Jesper prodded. _

_ He sighed and joined the toast of friendship. _

_ Okay, so maybe not sort of friends. According to his SOFs, they were Actual Friends, so yeah… _

If anyone asks _ , he told himself,  _ it’s because the ice cream.

 

* * *

 

Jesper’s phone pinged, and slowed down to check it. “Matthias wants us to come home already,”

“Give me the phone. Order the usual,”

“Got it,”

Jesper handed his sparkly cranberry phone to Kaz and drove into their usual DQ’s drive through, ordering the same things they had gotten so long ago. 

Kaz told Matthias to ‘ **Go to sleep, old woman –K** ’

While Jesper drove them to the parking lot, Inej dug into her ice cream, not wanting to wait. She saw Kaz watching her and laughed.

They sat under the street lamp, toasting. There was little doubt now, Kaz had to admit. They were his best friends, even with all the complications.

But he wasn’t about to admit it out loud.  _ No way _ .


	18. I’m A Rolly Polly (I just really liked this line, okay?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesper and Kaz get Matthias and Wylan drunk…and their hangover the next morning. Inej goes Suli, Wylan misses free dance and is sad. Free dance is amazing. Some talk on Simon and Baz and Penelope, very little, some talk about Kit Herondale and Tiberius Blackthorn, very little. General niceness, Jesper thinks about his mother and worries for his father, and everyone is lovely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited, and sorry for the long wait! BTW IMPORTANT THING LOOK OVER HERE: Okay, so, I know Jes's birthday passed, and I was working on a chapter for him, but uh, it's long past...So I'm going to upload b-day chapters as specials, even if they aren't at correct dates. They usually won't be uploaded at the times of the birthdays, sorry, but it makes it easier on me with my Wi-Fi problems. His won't be updated for a while either (needs some major re-workings and I never even finished it cuz it reached over 10,000 words without being finished). Anyway, those will be long chapters... Look forward to them!
> 
> PLEASE comment. Sorry if I don't get back to you soon, but I promise I'll reply!

**Jesper**

 

“I don’t think this is what Inej and Nina met when they told us not to cause trouble,” Kaz said as he looked up from his phone.

“Why my Nina isn’t nesting here?” Matthias said, holding a red pillow in his arms. 

Wylan rolled on the floor. “I’m a rolly polly. I’m a rolly polly,”

Jesper shrugged, going back and forth between the two very drunk boys. “It’s funny. They’ll forgive us,”

“Mother decides,” Matthias tried to rise, but he stumbled and fell over the coffee table, curling up and saying, “Ouchy,” as he held the wrong foot.

Kaz laughed and started taking a video. 

Wylan banged his head against the wall and groaned. “No, I wanna be Sonic. Sonic bursts through walls,”

“I thought you were a rolly polly,” Jesper said, kissing Wylan’s head. 

His eyes started to water. “I’m not a rolly polly?”

“No, no, you are. You can be whoever you want,”

“I’m Michael Jackson?”

“I mean—”

“Bruce Lee?”

“Well—”

“Oprah Winfrey?”

“You want to be Oprah?”

Wylan took Jesper’s shoulders and shook him. “She saved the children, Jesper! She’ll give me a car!”

“What?”

Wylan stood up and kicked Matthias, who made a kitten noise and tried to crawl away on his belly. 

“I can fly!” Wylan said, and then jumped onto Matthias.

“I’m the floor!” Matthias said. He sounded genuinely happy.

Wylan tumbled off of him and spun around, then looked at Kaz. “Are you my father?”

Kaz looked startled. “Wylan, what the literal fu—”

Wylan held a finger to his own mouth. “That’s a no-no word, father. Shuuuush,”

Kaz frowned. “I don’t want to be your father,”

“You already know all your lines!” Wylan said, surprised, and then started to tear up.

Jesper and Kaz looked at each other, frantic.

“Did he really just—”

“I think he might’ve.”

At the same time, they said, “I am going to kill Jan Van Eck,”

Wylan sniffed. “That’s my line,”

Kaz looked a bit awkward, which was always worth watching. “I am not your father, Wylan,”

“Star Wars,” Matthias mumbled quietly. “You’ve messed up my Vader.”

Jesper decided to ignore that and watch Kaz.

“Why not?” Wylan rubbed his eyes, and then fell over to the side. 

“Because I couldn’t have possibly fathered you,” Kaz said. “I’m far too young. Plus, we look nothing alike. And who the heck would your mother be?”

“Matthias,”

Matthias waved his limbs in the air. “I am the Momma!”

Kaz face-palmed  _ hard _ , and Jesper was in between feeling horrified and laughing his head off.

“No.” Kaz said. “Just no. Jan Van Eck is your father, but he is not your family. We are your family, Wylan,”

Jesper was a bit surprised by the warm note in Kaz’s usual rasp. He raised an eyebrow, but then had to put an arm out as Wylan tried to hug Kaz, who stiffened and moved back into the couch.

“I wanna hug hiiiiiiiiiim,” Wylan said. 

Matthias’ nose wrinkled. “Don’t hug him. He’ll kill you,”

“No I won’t,” Kaz’s words were bitten off at the end as Wylan moved in a zombie-like fashion, trying to climb over Jesper to reach him. “But don’t hug me. I might break something. But I probably won’t kill you,”

Matthias yelped. “You want to kill my baby?”

“No, I said I might hurt him, not kill him!”

“He wants to hurt me?” Wylan asked Jesper, frightened. 

Jesper lifted Wylan onto the couch next to him and away from Kaz. “Of course not! He’d never want to hurt you! He’s just not very good with hugs,”

Kaz cast Jesper a grateful glance. 

Wylan sniffed away, nodded, then went to sit on top of Matthias, who said, “Hello, little kit. I am the mother wolf,”

Kaz rolled his eyes to Heaven, and Jesper laughed.

 

* * *

 

“How exactly did this happen?” Nina said, after laughing like a madwoman for a good half hour.

Kaz shrugged. “I had some strong stuff and Jesper wanted to go at it.”

“Strong stuff?”

“Some  _ kvas _ and wine and a few other things into one.” He said nonchalantly, but Jesper knew that Kaz knew exactly what was in that bottle and wasn’t as innocent as he was acting.

Inej was muttering under her breath as she tucked Wylan in at one end of the couch, since she wasn’t strong enough to carry him down the stairs and wasn’t about to throw him down either (Kaz’s suggestion). 

Jesper had helped her put Matthias into the loveseat, and his feet were hanging off the side. Inej covered him with a blanket.  _ The daughter takes care of the mother. A turn of roles.  _

“What are you saying?” Jesper asked her.

She looked up, clearly disgruntled. She sent a string of words in rapid-fire Suli that he couldn’t even hope to follow past the curse words at him, punctuating it with a poke at his chest when she finished. She turned to Kaz (who was staring at her wide-eyed as if enchanted because c’mon, rage filled Inej beauty wasn’t too far behind serene, happy Inej beauty, and it was much rarer).

She threw a few more most-likely scolding/insulting sentences at him, then a few words at Nina, all in that tilting Suli, with jerks and pauses and words that would have twisted Jesper’s tongue or paralyzed his lips. 

Nina tilted her head, trying to keep up, and was muttering under her breath as Inej rambled. “Inappropriate? Uh…I think she just called me a rodent-devouring vulture…condone…they weren’t  _ that _ drunk…Are you telling me I’m a fruit or that I’m a bad influence?”

Jesper wasn’t sure if he wanted to know or not.

When Inej was finally finished, she ruffled sleeping Wylan’s hair and cast a warm look at Matthias before sighing, saying something in Suli, looking startled, then correcting herself. “I mean, I’m going to bed now. Doing that always puts me in such a Suli mood,”

Nina gave a little snort. “It’s like ten. You mean a  _ surly _ mood,”

Inej rolled her eyes, but now that she’d gotten the hell fire out of herself, she was a bit calmer. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she said. “I am tired. Who knew you could get so many customers on a week night? Thank everything tomorrow’s Friday.” 

She tilted her head at Kaz and smiled a little, then went up her room.

Nina raised her eyebrows at Kaz, and Jesper followed suit.

Kaz shrugged, completely calm, then turned to Nina. “By the way, Wylan needs to be taught not to take a Coke just because someone offers it to you,”

“You guys spiked his Coke? With the stuff you had?”

“Maybe.”

Nina shook her head. “Poor Coca Cola. I wonder how that tasted.”

“Wanna try?”

“Usually I would say yes, but I don’t need a hangover right now,” Nina smiled. 

Jesper smiled. “Same, although I feel bad for Matthias and Wylan. Neither of them are big on drinking.”

“Maybe they’ll stay at home,”

“Maybe,”

 

* * *

 

Jesper had Wylan in his arms as laid in the quiet darkness of the living room. Matthias slept on the love chair softly, hardly making a sound for such a big guy.

He could see the lights of their systems and TV and other appliances on the wall, cutting through the darkness but not letting him see much but their color, the green and white and blue and red. Wylan breathed in little puffs next to him, and Jesper was calmly playing with a curl of his hair. 

He thought of his father, his mother, the farmer and the  _ zowa _ . He wondered what they would think now. His father knew what was up to a certain extent, and his mother was long gone. At least physically. He wondered if ghosts were real. If so, this was something he was sure he wanted his mother to see: Jesper with the person he loved, in a calm place, with friends sleeping soundly around him. His mother would love that. 

_ Hi mom. You there? _

He swore he could feel a slight breeze pass over the exposed half of his face, and his mother’s lovely voice whispering softly.  _ Always _ .

And so he whispered about his day into the nothingness, his own voice lulling him to sleep as he held onto Wylan tightly. Never letting go. 

 

* * *

 

Wylan held his head in between his hands and groaned pitifully. Matthias downed some water and joined him in their symphony of hangover-ness. 

Nina patted his hand softly. “Hangovers suck, don’t they?”

He and Wylan whined, agreeing.

Inej rubbed a hand over her face. “There’s no way I’m letting you two got to school. Killer headaches aren’t made to be nursed on University grounds, no matter how many college parties go around here.”

“Anybody taking care of them?” Kaz asked. 

Matthias glared at him half-heartedly, and then rubbed his temples as if the action hurt him. “Not you,  _ demjin _ , definitely not you. You’re the one who got us into this situation in the first place.” he turned to Nina and Jesper. “And you guys would make fun of us the whole time,”

Nina and Jesper gasped, mocking offense. “We’ve been in the situation before! We know how to help you out!”

Wylan whimpered. “No loud noises,”

Jesper kissed his hair. “’Course, love,”

Wylan raised an eyebrow at the nickname, smiling lightly before collapsing onto the couch where he’d woken from that morning, Jesper and him nuzzling together in sleepy warmth.  “I can’t school today,”

“You also can’t Kerch today,” Jesper raised an eyebrow. 

He heard Inej mutter something about “Ten points for me,” and turned around. Inej and Kaz were standing close together, and Kaz was trying to hide smile, half-successful Jesper wondered why she was talking about points.

“You’re beating me by like 20 points, Inej,”

“90 to 70,” she smiled at him. “Gonna have to step up your game,”

Kaz rolled his eyes, and Jesper cut in. “You’re playing a game?”

Inej and Kaz glanced at each other really quickly, then at Jesper. “Of sorts,”

“Hmm,”

Kaz shrugged his shoulders. “We aren’t betting anything.”

Jesper made an ‘ahh’ face. He was still interested, but he did like betting games or drinking games more than most. 

“So is Inej going to look after them?” Nina asked.

Inej bit her lip. “I don’t know. I have dance today. Well, Wylan technically does too, but…Yeah, he best not dance in this condition,”

“Preach,” the ruddy-haired boy mumbled.

Inej raised both her eyebrows in a surprised manner. “Okay then…Anyway, I don’t think we can really ask anyone out of us four to look after them. Nina, you up for it?”

“Has anyone else realized I could dull the pain by realizing pain-killer chemicals? Or flush alcohol from their system if they still have some in there, or make their headaches better?” Nina asked. She waggled her fingers. “Corporalki here,” 

The others stayed silent except Kaz, who said, “Well, duh. But I say leave them be and let them learn a lesson.”

“Kaz, you fooled them into drinking that stuff,” Inej pointed out. “I think you should be the one learning a lesson here,”

“But they need to learn how to live through a proper hangover,” Kaz said.

“Wait,” Inej held up her hands. “Proper hangover? How many of those have you had?”

Kaz looked at her levelly. “You know the Dregs are big drinkers, right?”

“Yes,” 

“Well, they seriously like their alcohol. And let’s just say that another step to impressing them was drinking too.”

“Seriously?”

“Two weeks before I met you, I’d finally finished all their little alcohol challenges. 15 is a bad age for that,”

Inej looked horrified. “And Haskell allowed it?”

Kaz gave a little laugh. “It was  _ his _ idea. Man was crazy, giving so much alcohol to a kid, but the legal age is 15, so he wasn’t even breaking the law,” 

“How drunk did you  _ get _ ?” Jesper leaned in, probably more curious than he should have been.

Kaz shrugged. “Apparently I broke anything fragile that got near me, murmured curses under my breath about Pekka Rollins, and threatened to skewer Haskell with my cane. Typical day,”

“It does just sound like a more open you,” Inej said. “Did you do anything silly?”

Kaz raised an eyebrow as if asking if she really thought that he would’ve. Jesper agreed with him on that point. Kaz wouldn’t let his demeanor go because of some alcohol. Okay, well, a  _ lot _ of alcohol. “No. Well, I shot most of the lamps out and killed someone but otherwise no.” He frowned. “Although I killed them the morning after. I hate hangovers.”

“I would imagine,” Inej said, looking half amused and half horrified, which was an impressive combination. 

“Back to the manner at hand,” Matthias said. “Wylan and I can take care of ourselves.”

“I can’t,” Wylan said, curling up with a cushion.

“Don’t betray me, Wylan!”

They both winced and groaned again.

Nina shook her head and held out her hands to touch Matthias on either side of his head, and Matthias relaxed into her touch. Jesper smiled at that. When he’d first seen these two together, Matthias had almost choked Nina to death, and then avoided being touched by her. Grisha and Grisha Hunter issues. 

And now he relaxed. Although he still didn’t completely understand her power, and admittedly, Jesper’s as well, he accepted it now. At least he wasn’t trying to shoot anybody. 

“Better?” 

“A bit,”

  
“I’m not going to take away all the pain,” Nina warned him as she moved towards Wylan. “Just some of it. Kaz is right; you do need to learn how to go through one of these. But he gave you really strong stuff, so yeah, you need some relief.”

Wylan just shrugged half-heartedly. “I’ll take it. And I’ll never take alcohol from Kaz again. Not that I knew he’d put something in my Coke, but still,”

Kaz looked to the side, humming to himself and Inej rolled her eyes. Jesper watched them, smiling a bit. 

He knew there was something up with them, the final tip off being that they spent Valentine’s Day together (Inej had seriously declined in telling them everything with her things with Kaz, but when they group had asked what they’d done without them that day, she’d said  _ We went to an amusement park. It was pretty fun _ , and nothing more). 

Love was spreading in those two like ivy on the doors of their hearts.

_ Hello there poetry, nice of you to visit _ .

 

* * *

 

“I feel so guilty,” Inej came over to Jesper and Kaz, who were at the side of the dance room, talking as Inej practiced. “I wonder if they’re okay,”

“They are,” said Kaz, waggling his phone in the air. He rarely came to Inej and Wylan’s practices, usually because he needed to be at home planning a scheme, or at school/around town going through with a scheme. “Nina’s keeping me updated,”

In the end, no one had stayed with the two poor guys, but Nina had hurried home after school was over, taking the bus, while Jesper and Kaz, the two felons in the crime, decided not to go home. They took their chances with Inej, who had already scolded them in Suli  _ again _ .

It was somewhat scary, if Jesper had to be truthful. 

Inej drank some water, waving at her group to keep practicing. They were all eyeing Kaz, who was familiar to them, but not common. Simon, the bronze-haired kid with the curls, leaned over to Baz, his boyfriend with shoulder long black hair. Jesper tried to read his lips and almost laughed out loud when he saw him say  _ Plotters, the both of you. It’s the black hair and pale skin, I swear it. _

Baz punched him on the shoulder and rolled his eyes while Penelope raised her eyes to the sky.

“Miss the practice room?” Inej asked Kaz as she stretched, then did a back bend like she was a piece of rubber, not bone and muscle. 

“Not really,” Kaz said, and Jesper believed him. Too much skin, or suggestions of skin with all the tight dance clothing and tank tops and shorts. Even Jesper could tell that. 

“Hmm. Don’t even miss the dancing?” she kicked her feet over and flipped over to a standing position. 

“That was alright, I suppose,” he smiled a bit.

She mocked offense. “ _ Alright _ ? Jesper, tell him we’re awesome.”

“They’re awesome.” Jesper grinned. “Especially on the free dance days. Like today. Fridays always end with 10 minutes of free dance, if there isn’t a performance coming up in the next week. They go  _ nuts _ ,”

“We do not,” Inej argued.

“Yes we do!” Alex shouted, winking at the group

“No we don’t,” Baz and Inej argued.

Simon, Hale, and Alex snorted. “Yes we do,”

Baz, Penelope, Inej, and Kat rolled their eyes. “We do not.”

Hearthstone had been reading their conversation on their lips. He signed  _ We kind of do. _

Inej grumbled. “Just practice. I feel bad that Wylan will miss it though. He loves free dance,”

“I don’t remember there being a free dance. Then again, I haven’t come around since August 2017, so yeah,”

“What’s up with that anyway?” Jesper asked as Inej moved to her group. “They whole not coming thing. Inej didn’t seem to mind, since you only came by sometimes before that, but still,”

Kaz shrugged. “Too much of everything. And I had jobs to do,”

Like that’s an answer. “Fine. I’m going with a super cliché line and saying  _ tell me when you’re ready _ ,”

“Really?”

“Really.” 

Inej and the others were called to order by Miss Lucy. They were learning a new dance for a Spring Performance in sometime over a month and a half, around Jesper’s birthday. He’d seen Inej and Wylan practice it, and it was full of energy, strong beats, sudden movements. The choreographing was actually pretty complex, but the dancers had all taking it in heed, staying extra hours and working at home to perfect it. Miss Lucy had done a good job teaching them. 

The music started, and Inej and the others took motion, whirlwinds of crackling energy. They threw their heads back, turned violently and kicked down, then turned upwards and ‘fell’ back. Inej’s braid whizzed around her, and Jesper had no doubt there’d be some serious pain if anyone got close to it. 

It was violent. It was energy. It was spectacular.

Their part ended, and they feel back, gasping and smiling. Penelope grinned and high fived with Simon, who was leaning against Baz. She was a bit bigger than the other girls, didn’t have the typical dancers’ body, and neither did Simon exactly, but she managed to perform all the moves perfectly. She’d once said to Inej, who told Jesper, that Simon and she used to have another best friend, Agatha, which had been in her spot beforehand, back when Simon and Baz hated each other more than they could explain for whatever reason Jesper wasn’t aware of. She’d been a tall, delicate beauty, but she’d grown far from everyone, and when, under ‘mysterious’ circumstances, Simon and Baz started to talk more (Simon and Agatha had broken up not too long before that), she’d been put off. She and Penelope still talked occasionally, but there was little to be done. Agatha lived in Novyi Zem now days. 

( **IF YOU ARE MAJORLY CONFUSED, READ Carry On BY Rainbow Rowell!** )

Simon had begged Penelope to take the spot, and she had, and she’d been amazing so far. It was meant to be temporary, but Miss Lucy had loved her, and there she was, still dancing. 

“Wow,” Kaz said, impressed. “That was…”

“Stimulating? Amazing? Impossibly cool?” asked Jesper.

“Basically,” he admitted, eyes on Inej. “It’s …crazy,”

“Yeah,” Jesper agreed.

And then the craziness actually began. 

Miss Lucy grabbed a microphone. “Free dance!”

Everyone cheered as all the groups scattered around the large room came together in the middle of the room, Inej lost in the sea among them. 

Music, loud and pop-like blew through the speakers near full volume, and a single boy, with straight black hair and gray eyes went from the group, straying to the farthest corner, and a blond boy followed after him, a worried expression on his face. “Tiberius!” he went over to the boy. “You okay?”

Jesper could barely hear them over the racket. The black haired boy, Tiberius, nodded. Jesper realized he knew him. He was a Shadowhunter, Tiberius Blackthorn. His friend, the blond…Christopher? No, he went by Kit. Kit Herondale. Ty was autistic ( **_READ_ ** **The Dark Artifices, Book 1 Lady Midnight Book 2 Lord of Shadows BY Cassandra Clare!!!** ) and, while liking to dance, didn’t care much for the music that went with it. Inej had talked to him once, and noticed he actually wore earplugs sometimes, or used his own headphones, to drown out the noise. 

Everyone else, except some other Blackthorns that looked over at Ty worriedly, started to dance. In the end, Ty waved them off, smiling as Kit slid next to him and held his hand as Ty curled into himself, leaning against the blond.

Cute. 

Kaz was watching the mob with some horror, probably not a fan of all the bodies pushed next to each other. Everyone was screaming and yelling and having fun, and Jesper had no guess to how Inej wasn’t suffocated in the bodies.

The music changed to rock and there was a lot of stomping as people mimed the lyrics, completely improvising their dance. Then a soft song, their movements slowed to a nice sway. A dozen snippets of songs played, a dozen different styles performed.

It was great.

And then, at the 10 minute mark, all music ended suddenly, and the crowd dispersed as quickly as it had come together, people sweating and gasping and laughing and generally having fun

Kaz leaned over to Jesper. “I’ve just witnessed an orgy,”

“It wasn’t  _ that _ bad,” Jesper said, laughing.

Kaz shrugged and looked up at Inej, who was walking toward them, shaking her braid out and ruffling her hair to cool her head. 

“That was something,” Inej said, swallowing most her water in one go. “Always is,”

“You okay with all the people?” Kaz asked as he collected all her things. 

Jesper knew Inej herself was not that fond of large amounts of skin contact, especially with strangers. Although no one here was really a stranger, since Inej had talked to them. No one in Ketterdam was a stranger at that, Inej being the best spider ever. 

But still, lots of bodies.

Inej smiled. “I might’ve disappeared the first few times it happened. But no, it’s not all that bad. Plus, my group usually dances around me, and most people aren’t right up touching each other. We’re close, but not pressed together. It is, after all, a club/class, not a discotheque/party. Not the time or the place for any inappropriate touching unless of course your Baz and Simon,”

She pointed to Baz and Simon, who were sitting on the floor as Penelope collected her stuff, Simon’s head on Baz’s shoulder. Baz tilted the other boy’s head to kiss him. 

“I don’t mind them though,” Inej said. “They are too cute,”

“Right. We’re going?” Kaz asked.

“Yup. I’m dead tired,” Inej said, stretching her arms above herself and Jesper got up.

“Well, home we go,” Jesper announced. “Time to see how our hangover-nursing cooks are,”

“Probably horrible,” Kaz pointed out. Jesper moved forward, in front of them, and from the corner of his eyes, he saw a black movement, probably Kaz.

“20 points,” Jesper heard from Kaz, who sounded smug.

Inej laughed, and they were out the doors.

 

* * *

 

Wylan was glaring at Inej. “I missed it,”

Inej winced. “I know.”

“I  _ missed  _ it,” He insisted.

“It was the same as usual—”

“Which means it was awesome,” Wylan groaned, although Jesper doubted it had anything to do with his now fading headache. 

Inej passed her hands through his curls. “If it makes you feel any better, the whole group asked where you were and if you were okay. Miss Lucy also asked, as well as some others.”

Wylan sniffed. “That’s nice of them. But I still missed it,”

Inej sighed, giving him a short hug then petting a sleeping Matthias. According to Nina, he’d been complaining too much about missing class so she’d knocked him out Heartrender-style. Yay.

  
Inej went up to take a shower, Kaz and Jesper discussed the miracles and horrors of free dance, and Nina brought Matthias out of his unconsciousness. 

Matthias yawned. “Almost gone,” 

“Your headache?” Jesper asked.

“Yeah,” Matthias grumbled, glancing at Wylan. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I am. Kaz, what’re you doing?” Wylan asked. 

Kaz looked up. He’d connected his phone to the computer and there was a downloading sign on his screen. “Putting the videos I took of you two yesterday on my computer,”

“No.” Matthias said. “You are not.”

“I never said anything about distributing them. I’m just going to put it on the group chat. It was hilarious,”

“It was not,” Matthias argued.

“Do you even remember what happened?”

“…Not very well,”

“Then you couldn’t possibly know,”

They heard Inej shouting from the hallway as she entered the bathroom. “It’s not funny Kaz!”

“Yes it is!” he shouted back. A loud sigh responded and the bathroom door was closed. 

Everyone else just shrugged. “I wanna see,” Nina said.

“I suppose I do want to know what my drunk self is like,”

Jesper grinned and kissed him. “One thing that didn’t change is that you’re adorable either way,”

“Good to know,” Wylan rolled his pretty blue eyes and pulled Jesper to him, glancing through the black curtains of the house. “It looks windy,”

Jesper frowned. “Novyi Zem is probably going to get some tornados or something,” 

“Maybe,” Kaz said. “Worried about your father?”

Strangely enough, even Kaz was rather fond of Colm Fahey. 

“Yeah, but he should be fine. We’ve never had problems before. They always happened south of our lands,” Jesper tried to relax. “Plus, we have a pretty deep cellar, and at this point, I can pay back most the damages.”

“True enough,” Kaz said. “Still, though,”

Jesper had to smile at that. “Yeah. I’ll still worry. But I call him all the time, so I can probably keep up with the happenings.”

“Okay,” Kaz said. “Hey, it downloaded.”

Nina pounced. “Let’s see,”

Wylan laughed and Matthias grumbled. As they all sat up around Kaz and his computer, Wylan leaned in. “Your father will be fine,” he whispered into Wylan’s ear. 

Jesper turned and kissed him. “I know,”

“Starting…now,” Kaz said. 

And so they watched. ( **BTW this isn’t a point of angst or anything. Colm Fahey is A-Okay.** )

 

* * *

 

When Inej came down in purple pajamas and her hair dripping with a towel around her shoulders, she found them all giggling and playing replay. Well, Kaz was just watching them, amused more than laughing at the video.

Inej sat down next to Kaz and Jesper. “What’s happening?”

“The video,”

“Ahh,” she rolled her eyes but leaned in to watch, water dripping onto her knee from a stray strand. Kaz calmly brushed it back with the rest of her hair, and Jesper smirked at him, but said nothing. Kaz rolled his eyes.

By the middle of the video, Inej was pursing her lips in a way that suggested she really didn’t want to laugh, but it was taking all her strength not to. By the  _ I’m not your father _ part, she had clamped both her hands over her mouth, making little choking sounds. 

Kaz was studying her, and Jesper was studying Kaz.

What a weird world it was.

Wylan bumped Jesper’s side. “I’m sleepy,”

“It’s not that late,” Jesper said.

“Yeah, but I’ve spent most of the day with a headache. I’m sleepy.”

Jesper laughed and helped Wylan up, giving Inej a one arm hug. “Well, the rolly polly wants to go to sleep, so we’ll be heading to bed,”

“Okay,” Kaz said, looking up from Inej. “Good night, Jes, Rolly Polly,”

“I’m not a rolly polly,” Wylan complained. 

“Drunk-Wylan begs to differ, and the drunk always tell the truth,” Nina said.

“Hmph,”

“Night, you two,” Inej mumbled as she watched the screen. Matthias followed suit, as did Nina, and Jesper headed to his room with Wylan. They slept together almost every night (not  _ that _ way. Fun stuff like that happened only some nights. Usually they just talked or slept or watched funny videos still one in the morning, trying to silence their laughter in the pillows and each other’s hair) so it was a habit.

Just as he closed the door, Wylan already in front, he heard Inej finally give out and laugh cheerily. He could imagine Kaz’s star struck gaze more than easily. 

They snuggled under the covers, fitting together like the puzzles they liked to share, and Jesper fell asleep with Wylan’s blue eyes in his mind. 


	19. Imogen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nina is lazy and gets a text from an unknown number. Kaz’s old friend Imogen shows up, and ends up coming over for dinner. Kaz refuses to answer questions directly, Nina wonders over Inej’s parents, and there is a basket of fruit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited. Imogen will kind of be around for a while, like a really small bit of angst mostly because although I love fluff...this is Six of Crows, okay? I mean, it barely counts as angst. I don't even think it does. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please comment!

**Nina**

 

Nina sighed as she stretched out on the couch. Most days she wore skirts or dresses, but right now she was donning sweatpants and a tank top, which had made Matthias blush although he’d seen much more of her. It was Saturday and she was intent on relaxing as well as she could.

She looked up at Kaz and Inej, who were in the kitchen, conversing in their odd way. Matthias was doing push-ups with Wylan sitting on top of him

Jesper was trying to get some ramp on the wall for toy cars perfectly right. Kaz said he had to go kill someone later that night, no need for back up (except Inej, who’d been trailing him since forever and wasn’t about to stop now unless explicitly told to not follow. Although she might still then too). 

It was calm.

And Inej laughed.

Nina looked over at them again, and blinked. Nothing was happening, but Inej grinned and said, “10 points, Kaz,”

“Whatever,” Kaz said, but he hardly seemed bothered. He kneeled down to get something from the fridge and disappeared from view except for his head. Inej tentatively ran her hand through his hair and he tilted his head, probably to look at her, before going back to find food. 

Nina had to meet she had never…expected them to work out.

There, she said it. Thought it. Whatever.

But Kaz had been so determine to not let anyone in. Inej and he had had battles of silence lasting up to two weeks in the past, anger and resentment swirling with the need for companionship, and Nina had never been sure which side would win out in the end.

She was relieved it was the one that ended with both of them smiling.

Nina turned her head to look at her phone. She frowned at the notification that just popped up.

 

**UNKNOWN NUMBER:**

 

**Hey, is this Nina Zenik? Brekker’s Grisha girl? If so, I want to talk to you all.**

**BTW The Dregs gave me your number.**

**Anika says hi.**

 

She then received a picture of Anika, smiling next to another girl she didn’t recognize, with freckles and a small gap between her front teeth. Really pretty, in a rugged sort of way. 

She shouldn’t reply, but she was curious.

**Who are you? How come Anika isn’t punching you?**

 

**UkN: She did, actually. I’m Imogen.**

 

Nina looked at the name, puzzled. She didn’t know an Imogen. 

 

**Excuse me, but who?**

 

**UkN: I knew he hadn’t mentioned me. I’m an old partner of Kaz Brekker’s.**

 

Nina started to cough violently, and everyone peered at her. 

Inej came over. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, Kaz, quick question.”

“Shoot,” Kaz said, leaning over the counter.

“Do you know a girl with freckles and this tiny gap between her front teeth? Kinda rugged, pretty? She’s got light brown hair, and orange-y eyes.”

( **I’m taking liberties with her hair and eyes, since they are never mentioned in the book, I think.** )

Kaz blinked very slowly. “Sounds like Imogen. Why the Hell would you know what she looks like, though? That was a little over two years before you came along.”

Nina handed her phone over to Kaz, and Inej peered over his shoulder. Kaz raised an eyebrow at the texts, surprised but not particularly apprehensive. 

“Partner?” Inej asked.

Kaz rolled his eyes. “Hardly. She was around for about a year, joined the lower ranks of the Dregs. I met her when I was 14. We did a few jobs together, but…that’s also around the time I got my ‘name’, Dirtyhands,”

“Kaz met a rugged, pretty girl when he was 14? I’m interested.” Jesper came over to look at the messages. 

“What do I say?” Nina asked, taking her phone after he was done. 

Kaz shrugged. “She’s probably looking for a job. Answer whatever, really.”

“Were you close?” Inej asked.

“Imogen and I? Not particularly.” He hesitated. “There were…complications,”

All at once, everyone in the room raised their eyebrows, including Matthias and Wylan, who had been listening quietly.

Instead of looking suspicious like most people would’ve, Inej leaned in forward, lips twitching. “What do you mean?” she asked, looking oddly devious.

Kaz took a bite from a random apple to avoid from answering. 

Nina looked back at the texts.

 

**Kaz says he knows you. What do you want?**

 

**UkN: Like I said, I want to talk to you guys. Kaz specifically, but I wanna meet his crew. I’ve been back for all of a day, and all I’ve been hearing about is the Six of Crows, the Kings and Queens of the Barrel, Dirtyhands and a Wraith, the Bastard of the Barrel, a sharp shooter, some Fjerdan convict, you, the Heartrender, and some runaway demo merch kid. Brekker didn’t have that many titles back then.**

 

Nina changed the  **UkN** to  **Imogen** quickly, then replied.

 

**So?**

 

**Imogen: So I want to know how the fuck you got that bastard to talk to you all.**

 

**To be honest, I myself am not sure. But see, we’re busy this weekend, Kaz would kill someone if there was an interruption. But we’re good Monday.**

Nina was not spending her weekend on this. She wanted to lazy ‘round the whole time.  

 

**Imogen: That works. I’ll be at the Slat for now. Can I have a picture of you all? Just to know what I should be expecting.**

 

Nina faltered. “Okay, so we’ll be meeting her on Monday because I refuse to sacrifice my weekend on this. She’s staying at the Slat. She wants a picture.”

Kaz took another bite of his apple as Inej stared at him, trying to get him to tell her of the ‘complications’. He frowned and shook his head.

 

**Kaz says no.**

 

**Imogen: Did he actually speak? (And that was expected).**

 

**Actually, no, but for entirely different reasons that you are thinking of. (He’s paranoid).**

 

**Imogen: Now I’m curious. (Truly).**

**Maybe you’ll find out. Oh, gotta go. There’s a body and I need to take care of it.**

 

**Imogen: Okay. Monday where?**

 

**Uh, meet us at the University, the East parking lot at 5:45. We’re a pretty eye catching group. Gotta go!**

 

**Imogen: Thanks, bye!**

 

Nina tossed the phone to Kaz, who read over the messages, now eating an orange. He shrugged, raising an eyebrow at Nina’s sad, pitiful lies.

Inej laughed at the messages. “A body you need to take care of? Nina, you  _ cause _ the bodies!”

“I am a  _ delicate flower _ ,”

Matthias snorted.

“A very lazy, delicate flower,” Inej said. 

“True that,” Nina said.

Inej whirled as Kaz muttered something under his breath. Panicked, or at least as panicked as he could look, he ate another slice of orange.

Nina put on a movie on the TV and Wylan got up from Matthias. Inej read the messages out to him and he nodded, then questioned Kaz on his little murder.

Nina gestured at Matthias to give her a hug, and Matthias obliged, kissing her head then going to take a shower. Nina called after him to come back down shirtless, and he stumbled on the stairs as Kaz tried to sneak into his room. Inej rolled her eyes and followed him in. He wasn’t about to slam the door in her face, after all. 

Later, Nina noticed that Kaz had taken the fruit basket with him.   
  


* * *

 

Nina hummed to herself happily Sunday afternoon as she painted her nails a brilliant red. Inej watched her curiously as she and Matthias did pull ups from two different doorways. Nina was impressed. She knew the basics of how to fight, a mandatory class at the Little Palace, but she hadn’t been there long enough to develop much strength. Her Grisha abilities had always been powerful though, and she, like many other misguided Grisha who got captured by people physically stronger than them (*cough* Matthias *cough*), had been taken advantage of because of it.

Yet Inej did physical work easily, her wiry frame in leggings and t-shirt with the sleeves neatly cut off moving up and down, holding herself above the bar easily. Matthias had complemented her form on it. 

Kaz was also admiring her form, for completely different reasons, Nina was sure, like for the two or so inches of her stomach that were revealed when she lowered herself, still hanging on. His eyes flicked over the skin only temporarily, then moved away. In that area, he was rather a gentleman.

Nina almost snorted. She’d thought of a funny thing a while back. Attractive criminals who people fell for in stories tended to talk in a sophisticated manner. Kaz could manage that. They dressed either fashionably or well. Kaz did, going for the Mercher’s look. They were also charming, tongues full of flattery and pleasant things.

Kaz did not do that.

He was horrible! Mean and rude and uncaring!

It was almost funny, really. Inej was one of the kindest people Nina knew, after all.

Jesper had completed his ramp from the day before and now he and Wylan were testing is with different cars, clapping as they managed loops and such.

_ I wonder what Imogen would think of this _ . 

Something struck Nina as she looked around.

“Okay, so I have cooking club tomorrow,” Nina said.

The others groaned. Kaz made a face. “Don’t remind us, Zenik.”

“Whatever, Brekker. Anyway, that means dinner is decided. And I told Imogen we would see her after Inej and Wylan and I were done with dance and cooking. And if we’re eating my cooking for dinner, it means we don’t have a reason to go out, and we can’t do anything, and Imogen wants to actually talks to all of us, so…”

Kaz raised his eyes to Heaven. “Imogen is coming over for dinner?”

“Yes, basically,”

Wylan stared. “Uh, she’s coming in here?”

He looked around. The living room was hardly a mess past Jesper and Wylan’s stuff, since Kaz could not harbor any messes in the premise, and neither could Matthias. But it looked really casual…

“We’re going to have to toughen the place up,” Wylan said.

“Is no one else worried about the girl eating Nina’s cooking?” asked Matthias as he stopped his pull ups. Inej had somehow flipped over and was clinging to the bar with her legs, her braid trailing under her and her shirt falling down some. 

“Interesting,” she said.

They all looked at her, skeptical, and Jesper stretched. “Well, it’s just another body to bury in the garden,”

Wylan frowned. “Do we actually—”

“Not literally, merchling. Unless Kaz had anything he wants to tell us,”

“They’ve probably decomposed by now,” Kaz said nonchalantly, and Nina spit out the water she’d been drinking.

Inej blinked several times, then rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t actually have a body in the garden. He freaked me out one day a few years back and I checked, and I would have noticed if he disrupted my geraniums.”

Inej kept a small patch of geraniums by the side of the house, and it was the only garden they had to speak of.

Matthias shook his head at Kaz. “You’re horrible,”

“I know,”

“That’s not a good thing.”

“I beg to differ,” he smiled as Inej swung from the bar to one of the large, staple-like bars from the ceiling that had been there since Nina moved in. Kaz had drilled them into the ceiling when Inej and Kaz had, so that she could practice.

Inej moved through them easily, and they all watched her. Kaz had been reading over the notes for a simple song on the electrical violin he’d gotten from Wylan, as he had finally tried it a few weeks back and had been impressed by how much he enjoyed it. 

Inej turned to Kaz. “So…about those complications…”

Kaz unpeeled a banana next to him and took a bite.

Inej rolled her eyes but ended up taking a bite of the banana as well. She looked like a monkey.

Nina blew on her nails then sprinkled some red glitter on them, grinning at her handiwork then covering them in a clear polish to keep the flecks in place. “Well, see, I’m doing my nails so you’ll all have to take care of clearing up.”

They all glared at her, but Nina just laughed, blew them a kiss, then fired up Netflix on her phone.

 

* * *

 

Nina waved good bye to her club mates as she went towards the field, waiting for Matthias to come from his practice. She had bags on both her arms, and was hopping from foot to foot, unhappy with the wind that blew all around her, tangling her curls. The only person that hadn’t had something to do had been Kaz, who, after walking Inej and Wylan, and their usual spectator Jesper, off at dance, had decided to break into some of the offices at the University.

Hooray.

Matthias came out, chatting to a few others of his members, then smiled when he saw Nina. He waved good bye and jogged over to her, his golden hair mussed from practice. 

“Ready to meet Kaz’s old partner?” Nina asked after kissing his cheek. He grinned and helped her with her bags. He might not like what was in them, but he, unlike Kaz, was a gentleman. After the whole  _ Grisha are abominations, kill them all! _ thing, of course.

They walked towards their car, talking and joking well humoredly.

They met up with Kaz, who’d been waiting by the exit. “Hey,” he said as he fell into step with them. 

Nina waved her bags at him. “Look, honey, I brought dinner!”

“Send it to Hell,” Kaz said, although he seemed in a neutral mood. “Also…I wouldn’t worry about Imogen’s opinion on your cooking.”

Nina blinked. “Why? Have I gotten that much better?”

“Nope.”

“I hope you know you are beyond slappable,”

“I get that a lot.”

“Anyway, so what about Imogen?”

“She literally couldn’t care what food tastes like. She’s very particular to her drinks though. Oh, right, she’s Matthias’s age.”

“So you had complications with an older woman?” Inej popped out of nowhere. Granted, they were passing the dance room, but still. Matthias and Nina jumped, and Kaz just looked at her. 

“Really?” he asked.

The smile she sent him was teasing. “Really,”

Jesper and Wylan came out from the glass doors behind her, and together, they headed off towards the car. Nina looked around, trying to spot the girl from the picture.

At the same time, Kaz and Inej pointed, then said, “There.”

Nina followed their fingers. It was her alright, next to a black and yellow motorcycle, some spots away from their own black car. She looked up as she saw them approach, pocketing a phone. She wore a light green shirt that ended an inch or so above her hips, exposing some of her midriff, and knee length khaki cargo shorts. She wore dark brown combat boots, and her hair, thin but surprisingly nice, reached her shoulder blades in a messy, layered ‘v’. 

She straightened and Jesper muttered to Nina, “Oh, she  _ is _ pretty,”

She elbowed him. When she looked over at Inej, she had vanished. Kaz had cocked his head to the side as they neared their car, the girl.

“’Ey, Brekker,” she said. Her voice was that of a farm girl, strong and demanding. But her writing had been impeccable the day before, so she was obviously educated. “You look a bi’ differen’. No’ too much though.”

Kaz nodded his head. “Imogen. You just look wilder than before.”

She grinned. “He speaks! So the rumors wer’ true, ya’ do talk nowadays,” 

She surveyed the group. “Anika told me abo’ all you all.” She nodded at Jesper and Nina. “The Zemeni sharpshooter, and the Ravkan Heartrender.” She looked at Wylan and Matthias. “The runaway merchling with the demo, and the Fjerdan ex-convic’,” she frowned. “Where’s the other girl, the Suli Wraith?”

“Right here,” Inej had shown up behind Imogen and the motorcycle. The brown haired girl spun on her heel, leg out to kick out of surprise. Inej ducked, and then hooked her ankle around Imogen’s planted foot. The other girl started to fall back and brought her airborne leg down violently as to not fall, then backed up a few steps.

The two girls studied each other, but neither seemed annoyed. Imogen held out her hand after a moment. “Anika wasn’ kidding, you  _ are _ a ghos’. Cool,”

Inej shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Inej Ghafa,”

“As you know, I’m Imogen, and who knows wha’ my las’ name is, cause I certainly don’.”

Inej walked over to them. Kaz was raising an eyebrow at her, but she just smiled at him then took her place besides Wylan. 

Kaz rolled his eyes, and Imogen studied him, smiling, a mix of a neutral smile and an interested one.

Nina looked at him. “So, can we get going? I don’t want the food to get cold,”

Kaz looked at the food disdainfully. “I doubt it would make it any worse,”

“Kaz, Nina made dinner. Be grateful,” Inej said, moving towards their car. “Imogen, just follow us in your bike. At least, I’m assuming it’s yours. We’ll be heading home. Also, you might want to avoid getting besides us on the road. Jesper’s…a bit crazy,”

“Always, darling,” Jesper said, although since the time he’d nearly killed the three of them, he’d been a bit more careful. He opened the door and they all went in. Imogen nodded and swung onto her bike, lighting the ignition. She didn’t have a helmet, but no one seemed to care about that. 

They got on the road, and Nina said, “You know, I’m thinking that Inej and Imogen looked nothing alike and stuff, and they don’t sound alike or move alike or anything, right?”

Kaz look skeptical. “Right?”

“But I get why you like the both of them,”

“I’m wondering how you got to that conclusion,” Kaz said, not flinching, but hardly amused.

“ _ Complications _ ,” everyone in the car but Kaz said, even Matthias and Wylan.

Kaz rolled his eyes. “Anyway, Nina, what?”

“They are pretty similar in this  _ I’m powerful _ sort of way,” Nina said.

Inej laughed. “Nina, Kaz taught me how to fight! Plus, he found me in a brothel. I doubt I showed a whole lot of strength then,”

Nina shook her head. “But then, he wasn’t attracted to you,”

Inej blinked. “Nina, we aren’t having this conversation—”

“I’m not heading towards the part where you two are a perfect couple, okay? But we all know anyway. So, maybe he wasn’t attracted to you deeply right away, but as you grew stronger, more capable, he was, right?”

No one said anything.

“So,” Nina continued. “I think he’s into that. Like, women who can take care of themselves. Of course that’s not the only factor, because otherwise Kaz would like me too,”

Kaz actually  _ scoffed _ , the little skiv.

Nina was tempted to give him a muscle cramp, but decided against it when he met her eyes in the car mirror. 

“Anyway,” Nina said. “There must have been something different about Inej in the end, because otherwise, I very much so doubt that Inej would even be in this car instead of her,”

This seemed to interest Inej. She peered at Kaz, then Nina. “Huh. Didn’t think about that,”

Kaz groaned. “I’m not going to answer your questions, I hope you know. And Nina, stop analyzing Imogen and I like something actually happened or was going to happen or whatever else you’re fantasizing about.”

Jesper veered to the left, then right violently, then made a U-turn, going over a canal via bridge, then turning back in another one, trying to confuse Imogen. Nina couldn’t see her expression very well, but she had a feeling Imogen was mostly trying not to get ran over by Jesper.

At least he was having fun.

They finally pulled up to the house, coming to a violent stop. Everyone exited the car, and Matthias went to open the door. Inej and Kaz waited as Imogen got off her motorcycle as the rest of them went inside.

 

* * *

 

“Wow,” Imogen whistled as she looked around. “You go’ a good place here, Brekker,” 

“Watch out for the garden,” he replied, and Jesper guffawed as Inej choked on her water then looked at Imogen, who was looking a bit confused.

“We had a weird conversation yesterday,” Inej explained. “About bodies in gardens.”

“Is he threatening to kill me then?” Imogen seemed completely unbothered by the prospect. Matthias motioned that she could pull out a stool from the kitchen island is she so wished. 

“Who knows?” Jesper said. “It’s Kaz. Kaz is strange,”

“Am not,” Kaz said as he sat down next to Inej, avoiding the flurry of Matthias and Wylan, who were making comfort sandwiches for after dinner. 

_ Totally _ not offensive, Nina thought. 

“Are too,” the rest of them answered, and Imogen blinked.

The living room had been cleaned of projects and anything too domestic, like some stuffed animals and what not, and the walls had been stripped of Wylan’s artwork, which was carefully stored down in the basement. Otherwise, it looked the same, but slightly empty. 

Inej started to peel an orange and shared it with the others. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

Imogen shrugged. “Brekker, really. I came to the Barrel, he was somewha’ known, making a name, feared by those who’d me’ him. Now, he’s in control of everything. Rollins and Haskell are out of the scene completely, Brekker’s known throughou’ Ketterdam, and even some of the nearer cities, and people actually kind of revere him.”

“Kaz is the scariest thing in Ketterdam,” Wylan said from the kitchen. Nina got up to serve her food.

“He’s a monster,” Nina supplied.

“ _ Demjin _ . Demon.” Matthias said.

“You could say he’s evil,” Jesper said. “ _ Could _ ,”

Everyone looked at Inej, who was eating her orange peacefully. She looked up and swallowed, handing the fruit to Kaz, who took a slice. “What? He’s Kaz. Everything they said and worse. But he’s Kaz,”

Imogen raised both eyebrows. “So wha’ happened?”

Kaz shrugged. “I got promoted to Lieutenant right before you left, remember?”

“I do. Lots of drinking tha’ nigh’.” She grinned. “I smashed some heads, if I remember well,”

“You did,” Kaz confirmed. “Well, maybe a half year after that, I got Inej into the Dregs,”

Inej glanced at him. He wasn’t mentioning her being at the Menagerie, although Imogen probably knew about that already. Nina set out the plates. It was a steak night, and she was eager to know how her food turned out.

“So she’s around for about 7 or 8 months and I met Jesper,” Kaz nods at him. Jesper waggled his fingers, watching Wylan and following the conversation. 

“Then Nina a bit later,”

Nina looked at Imogen. “You know, he’s seriously cutting everything off. We all had our history and the ways we ended up with him are quite odd. The most normal is Jesper’s, and Kaz still won’t tell us if he hired guys to jump him or if their meeting was a coincidence,”

Imogen blinked. “Sounds like him,”

“Right?”

Kaz sighed, stretching his bad leg. Imogen studied it, his cane, but held her tongue.

“Wylan came around not too long after. Maybe 9 months or so later, we got Matthias,”

“What he means to say,” Nina said. “Is that Matthias finally mattered enough for Kaz to bust him out of Hellgate. And before you ask, I put him there. It was an accident.”

Imogen frowned. “How do you accidentally get someone in Hellgate?”

“Nina’s not the only one who’s stuck people in there,” Kaz said. “It’s really quite easy. Look at Van Eck, after all,”

“Yeah, another thing I’m wondering abou’ is tha’. How’d you ge’ tha’ merch in tha’ prison?”

“Nobody’s told you about the Ice Court, huh?” Kaz asked. 

“I’ve heard some whispers,” she admitted.

Inej stood up to help Nina, although she didn’t seem particularly thankful of the food, no matter what she had said. “Well, we’ve never told anyone the story outright. You’ll have to make do from snippets, and maybe we’ll reveal stuff.”

Kaz glanced at her, then Imogen, shrugging. “It was unreal, to a certain extent.” He smirked. “But nobody’s going to question us. We’re a dangerous group, and people know that more than anything,”

Matthias was chopping something in the kitchen. “But we still need to eat. So, Nina made steak, and there’s enough for everyone. Imogen, right? Feel free to skip this if you wish,”

Imogen raised an eyebrow. “It’s free food. I’ll eat if there’s some for me,”

Nina nodded. “She knows what’s up. Yeah, we’ve enough for you,”

“Nice,” she nodded, sitting up. Nina shot a triumphant smile at Matthias, who looked at Imogen like she’d just been shot.

Inej set away the fruit, giving Kaz a side-eye look, which he looked away from, and Nina set the plates in their usual places, Imogen sitting with Kaz, Jesper, and Matthias. 

Kaz got the water pitcher and set it on the kitchen island, although he didn’t seem worried about Imogen dying via food. They all watched her take the first bite, and Nina leaned forward, interested in her reaction.

Imogen swallowed and continued to eat, although she raised her eyebrows. “I’m almos’ positive this isn’ poisoned, bu’ why are you all watching me?”

Wylan laughed. “Nina’s a horrible cook. The flavor is absolutely terrible,”

Nina gave him a look. “Wylan, you’re supposed to be nice,”

“I’m not going to lie to her!”

“Decency,” Kaz muttered, like it was a curse.

Matthias rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up, Brekker,”

“Eat your food, Helvar,”

Imogen looked startled by the back and forth. “Brekker, is it really that bad?”

“I’ve had worse,” Kaz admitted. “It’s pretty bad though. What are you doing back in town, Imogen?”

“Took you long enough to ask. Anika actually seemed, you know, interested,” Imogen said.

Kaz shrugged. “You’ve always done what you felt like.”

“True enough. I wanted another chance a’ the Barrel.” 

“Even after leaving to Ravka for training?”

“Yeah. Still suck at being Grisha, but now I know what’s up,” She grinned. “They’re all so posh, those Little Palace babies.”

Kaz’s lips twitched as he looked at Nina. Imogen followed his gaze, and blinked. “You’re a Heartrender, righ’. A LP one?”

Nina sniffed. “So what if I am?”

Matthias laughed. “Don’t get all high and mighty with us, Nina,”

“I can if I want to. And yes, I’m from the Little Palace. I don’t recognize you,”

“I was abou’ 16 when I wen’.”

Nina frowned. “Then I should have been around, since I would’ve been 15. What are you?”

“Etheralki. A Squaller,” Imogen said. “No’ a very good one though. Now that I think about i’, I migh’ remember you. Weren’ you always following ‘round that Genya Safin chick?”

“While I wouldn’t address her like that, and I wasn’t  _ following her _ , yes,” Nina nodded.

“How’d you end up here?”

Nina was a bit put off. “Isn’t this  _ your  _ story?”

“It’s everyone’s story,” Inej said easily, then lifted a piece of steak to her mouth. Conversation stopped as they watched her wince as she ate, looking positively unhappy. She reached for her water and downed it. Wylan got up and passed her the water pitcher. She looked at Nina apologetically. “Better than usual,”

“But…?”

She grimaced. “Tastes like wood,”

Matthias took a bite. “Really dirty wood,”

Nina groaned. “Will you eat it without dying?”

The group nodded as one and they all started eating, wincing and coughing and such. Imogen took another bite of the food calmly, and Kaz gave Matthias a  _ told you so _ look.

Imogen seemed more and more put off by Kaz’s behavior. Well, maybe not put off, but certainly confused. “Well, I jus’ didn’ like the LP, and I wanted back into here.”

“No one wants to come back to the Barrel. You just wanted to come back to the criminal life in general,” Kaz said simply.

Imogen shrugged. “The Barrel’s pretty cool once you ge’ used to i’.

Inej looked skeptical of that, but kept her mouth shut. Jesper glanced at Kaz, who didn’t seem amused despite his easy responses. “You were wondering about me, Imogen?”

Imogen rolled her eyes. “Anika still called me Imos. Won’ you?”

“No.”

“Whatever, Brekker. I wanna know why you talk now. I wanna know why you live here instead of the Slat. I wanna know how you became the King of the Barrel and got Rollins running for the hills,” Imogen tilted her head at him, awaiting an answer.

Kaz studied her coolly, and it hit Nina just what was so different between Imogen and Inej. Well, actually, there were a few reasons. It was around the time Kaz got the name Dirtyhands that Imogen had been around. Ask any long-standing member in the Dregs about that time, and they’ll report that Kaz, after a slip up, suddenly got more vicious, breaking bones, killing easily, becoming more ruthless than he was before, which is saying something. No wonder he had no time for Imogen. That’s also around the time people reported noticing that Kaz never took his gloves off. The complications were now becoming quite obvious.

Another thing: Inej had been around much longer than Imogen, and therefore had more time to wear on Kaz’s edges,  _ after _ he’d finished his transformation to Dirtyhands, so she didn’t have to deal with a difference in Kaz, because what she had was pretty much his ‘final version’ of himself.

And, another key thing, possibly the most important: Inej was the Wraith. Inej had been besides Kaz for almost every hour since she came in, and she didn’t push for information, didn’t share things you didn’t want shared, just waited patiently for you to decide what to say or do. She also collected secrets, but even if she found out something on accident, she wasn’t about to use it against you if it wasn’t for a job.

Basically, she was the only person Kaz had been able to trust. Because of  _ decency _ . Inej was decent, and that, despite all of Kaz’s preaching, is what made him trust her.

Nina glanced at Inej, who was eating slowly like she usually did when it came to Nina’s cooking. Inej credited almost all her traits to her parents, although Nina personally thought that a lot of it was just Inej’s nature. She’d taken was she’d been taught as a child to a whole new level.

Nina still wanted to meet the girl’s parents though. She hated Jan Van Eck, Wylan’s father, and loved Colm Fahey, Jesper’s father. Kaz claimed he had no parents, just to be ambiguous, but he’d once admitted his father was long dead, and his mother even more so, which Nina took as she’d died during his infancy and he during Kaz’s older kid years, before coming to Ketterdam. Nina hardly remembered her parents past blurred faces and didn’t care much for finding them — her family had been at the Little Palace. And Matthias’ family had died thanks to Grisha fire a long time ago. So the only ones the group was interested in the end with was Jesper’s dad, whom they’d all met, and Inej’s own saintly parents.

They were all silent as they watched Kaz and ate their food. Imogen didn’t seem to mind the waiting silence.

“I talk now because I couldn’t stand a ghost’s silence,” Kaz said. “I live here to keep my secrets with their keeper and my memories with their makers. And I’m the new King because the old one had something more precious than reputation,”

“Do you have to speak in riddles, metaphors, Brekker? I think I migh’ have liked you better when you didn’ talk,” Imogen grumbled. But something about the look in her eyes when she looked at him made Nina think she wasn’t as annoyed as she was acting. 

Kaz smirked. “They aren’t metaphors.”

Matthias stood, silent, taking his and Wylan’s plate and setting them in the sink, not yet grabbing a sandwich. Jesper and Inej glanced at each other as Nina finished off the last of her own food. They’d be there for some time longer. Kaz also finished, although Nina hardly believed he ate half of what she’d set on his plate. 

Imogen sighed, running her hand through her hair as she finished eating. Still, Nina had the feeling she felt more interest in the new Kaz than dislike. Matthias also took her plate and Kaz’s, looking over at Inej and Jesper disapprovingly. 

“I wan’ a straigh’ answer,” she said finally.

“I don’t want to give one,” Kaz said simply. He tilted his head. “You never had much patience for these things,” 

“Why no’?” she asked, not disputing his statement.

“Because I don’t need to.” Kaz seemed uninterested in humoring.

Inej frowned. “Kaz, if she’s an old friend of yours, you should be more polite,”

Kaz looked at her, smiling, his whole face changing. Nina had the oddest feeling it was to piss Imogen off a bit. “But aren’t I always rude?”

She rolled her eyes. “You can be decent. Sometimes. Just be nicer,”

Imogen was staring at Kaz’s smiling face. When he looked back at her, she smiled a closed lip smile. “I can’ tell whether you’re jus’ the same, Brekker, or completely differen’.”

“I’d go with both,”

She leaned forward, looking him straight in the eye, still smiling. “I’ve go’ places to go now, Brekker, but I’ll be seeing you around in the Sla’. Anika is letting me stay, although she says there’s a bi’ of a space problem. I don’ mind that much though, as you know,”

She winked at him, said good bye and thanks for the food to the rest of them, then left, probably one of the few people who wasn’t the six of them to come inside and out without injury. 

Matthias looked at Kaz. “Was she flirting with you?”

Kaz made a tired noise. “Who knows? It’s Imogen. She does what she likes, and frankly I never cared much for figuring her out.”

“Why not?”

“It wasn’t my focus at the time I met her, and it isn’t my focus now. She might be a bit of a hassle if she is doing more than just catching up with me. She likes to get around.”

“Meaning?” Nina asked.

“Meaning that she’s probably more determined now and that if she is flirting I’m going to have a long, annoying time trying to make her stop without making her want to punch me in the face. Girl packs a punch,”

They all looked at him, and he shrugged. “What? She’s weird. Fights like Jesper,”

They all considered Kaz before moving on.

Nina leaned over to Inej, who was finally done eating, and whispered, “Do you like her?”

Inej smiled angelically. “No.”


	20. Villains and Heroes and Everyone in Between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wylan thinks about things. Wylan and Jesper try and figure out what makes people heroes and what makes them villains. They also kiss. Wylan and Jesper are funny when they are undercover, Matthias does not approve, and Imogen doesn’t want to stop flirting. Inej, as it happens, also doesn’t approve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited. Basically a lot of Wesper. Oh well. I love them. Thanks for reading and please comment!

**Wylan**

 

“Why is this our life?” Wylan muttered under his breath. He was tired and grumpy and wanted to go home, but  _ nooooo _ , Kaz just had to send them out a three in the morning to do this. 

Jesper pet his head. “Because we chose it,”

“Not what I meant,” Wylan said, looking up at him. They were buying explosive ingredients in the middle of the night, because they needed them the next day (well, technically that day, considering how late/early it was), but had been too busy earlier. So Kaz had sent them out as he and Inej stalked someone, and Nina posed as a guest to a fancy party with Matthias as her body guard. 

They needed to find the place were some rich man, a merch, was keeping all his cargo, so that Kaz and Inej would we able to frame the person they were stalking to be the person that had stolen it, and then Wylan would blow the whole place up just to ensure that the stalked person was framed and went to the gallows instead of a prison. Nina was certainly by now seducing the drunk into giving her the information she needed.

“It’s weird how commonplace this has become for me,” Wylan said. “Just blowing up people’s lives,”

Jesper nodded slowly. “I know what you mean. I never thought I’d think shooting someone as ‘just another day’s work’ back when I lived on the farm. But look at me now. But don’t go bemoaning everything just because you’re a little tired. The world needs villains just as much as it needs heroes,”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Wylan said, but he still walked into the explosives store with Jesper. Wylan described what he needed and Jesper bartered down the price and things got done. Things always got done when Kaz was in that sort of mood. 

“I am,” Jesper said as they left. “Because we’ve been, at this point, both the heroes and the villains,”

“We were only the heroes when it benefited us,”

Jesper gave him a crooked sort of smile. “Have you  _ met _ Inej and Nina? And Matthias? And you? Kaz and I are the ones that stand back most of the time.”

Wylan wished he could argue; say that Jesper was clean, good. But none of them were. And what Jesper said was true: No matter how many goods he’d done to the other members, how many times he’d pushed Kaz to take mercy, how many people he defended and cared for, he didn’t exactly walk around with outraged righteousness like, say, Nina or Inej (who were also killers, but that’s hardly the point). 

But Jesper was Wylan’s hero and Nina’s hero and Inej’s hero and Matthias’ hero and Kaz’s hero (even if he would never admit it, and neither would Matthias). 

And that had to matter. It did matter. The Saints above couldn’t ignore it, for if they did, Wylan would have to doubt their judgment. 

“You are a hero,” Wylan said, nudging Jesper as they walked the half-full city sidewalks, streetlamps lighting their eyes. “Just because you don’t go ‘round saving Grisha like Nina, and Matthias now too, or bringing down brothels Inej-style, or fight abusive parents and help the kids out like me doesn’t mean you aren’t a hero.”

Jesper raised a brow. “I’m just a tiny one. With more bad deeds than good tucked into my belt,”

Wylan rolled his eyes. “I’m trying to help you here,”

“Right. Sorry.” Jesper smiled. Then he thought. “If we’re all our own little types of villainous heroes, then how is Kaz a hero?”

“Uh…He saved Inej from a brothel,”

“To make her become his spider, and a killer,”

“He took Nina in,”

“To have a Grisha in the Dregs ranks,”

“He got Matthias out of prison,”

“Because he needed the poor guy to betray his country so we could break into the Ice Court,”

Wylan glared up at the sky. Was there  _ anything _ Kaz didn’t do with self-interest in mind? “He didn’t mind my affliction,”

Jesper paused. “Because you could do other things,”

“But he  _ didn’t _ know I had my disability when he had me do everything. I had to tell him. And he wasn’t cruel about it. He just told me that I could do everything else. Then, at that moment, Kaz was my hero. He might have something in mind whenever he’s nice, but he’s been our hero so many times that we under-appreciate because of his cold words and stuff. But he didn’t laugh at me for not being able to read. He didn’t mock you for hiding your Grisha powers. He didn’t recoil in disgust at Nina’s powers  _ or _ try to enslave her. He offered Matthias a true chance at freedom — even if Matthias was never able to take it in the end. He didn’t force Inej into jobs he knew would make her uncomfortable due to the Menagerie, and while he didn’t usually step in, he gave her the weapons to fight for herself.”

Wylan took a big breath. “Kaz isn’t good or nice of pure and he is  _ so _ going to Hell, because if he doesn’t, Saints help me, I’m going to find him and put him there—”

Jesper laughed.

“—but he  _ was  _ a hero. A terrible, terrible, evil hero.”

“What is a hero?” Jesper asked quietly.

Wylan shrugged. “Someone who saves/has saved someone else,”

“That’s a savior,”

“Well, we have the internet, look it up,”

Jesper did. “Hero: One who is admired and looked up to for valor, achievements, and noble qualities. Or, one who performs a particularly courageous act, especially an act that rescues or protects someone. Uh, something about gods...and male protagonists…oh! A sandwich consisting of a small loaf of white bread filled with meat, cheese, and vegetables!”

Wylan rolled his eyes. “Okay, now, villain.”

“Uh, wicked, evil, or criminal person. Rogue, rascal…Not much to go on.”

“Okay, so, mix the ‘performs a particularly courageous act’ thing and ‘wicked, evil, criminal’ thing, and bam; you have Kaz, or us.”

Jesper smiled. “Sorta,”

Wylan shrugged. “Sorta. We’re…Herians. Or Villeos. Or something.”

“So what are we now, the six of villeos? It doesn’t have the same ring to it,”

Wylan took a moment to remember what Kaz always said about crows. “No, we’re still crows,”

“Like always,”

“I mean, you know how they can hold grudges against others, and then they tell the other crows to keep them safe from that person? Well, sort of. We’re a little like that. Two sided.”

“We’re like spare change,”

“Huh?”

“We’re two sided, found on the streets, and we’re either not enough of just enough,”

( **I saw something funny about this on a text video, but it totally different in the meaning.** )

Wylan guffawed, and Jesper laughed, before adding, “And we’re found in everyone’s pants,”

Wylan rolled his eyes. “That’s you. I have nothing to do with it. You’re just all over the place,”

“Hey! I’ll have you know I settled down with someone,”

“Really?”

“Yes. We’ve been together for a couple of years. He’s nice and cute. He’s incredibly brilliant, even though he gets nervous and ashamed at the things he can’t do. He has a good soul but he can make a great bomb too, and he’s great with numbers and music. He plays a mean flute.” Jesper bopped Wylan on the nose with his index finger. “He looks sweet and innocent but he’s done more wicked things in bed than I can describe—”

Wylan blushed violently. 

“—and he’s a great conversationalist, especially when he doesn’t dumb himself down. And he has super soft hair that’s so adorably curly and copper-red and big blue eyes that just scream beautiful and genius and the softest skin, even on his hands when he spends so much time drawing and playing with chemicals, so I love touching him all the time. And he’s exactly what I need. He calms me and he makes me feel wanted, makes me feel  _ understood _ . He makes me see things differently, helps me with my own demons and is real with me. I’ve seen him bare his soul and I’ve bared mine in return. I love him. I’ll always love him.”

Wylan was dark pink by the time Jesper was finished. He was embarrassed, but what was he supposed to do? Say no? He was damn well pleased whenever Jesper did things like that. So he just pulled the Zemeni man down and kissed him hard on the mouth, his hands gripping Jes’s collar, wrinkling the fabric roughly.

He was soon pushed against a wall roughly, an alley shadowing them into darkness like they so often did, Jesper’s hands rubbing circles onto his hips. Wylan let out a soft moan as their mouths opened against each other’s, tongues sliding across another, eyes closed.

It was a wonderful sort of feeling.

Damn Kaz for needing them to get those explosives set.

 

* * *

 

Wylan didn’t flinch at the explosion from where he was several streets down, mixed into a crowd of many others watching, most of whom _ did _ flinch, rather violently at that. He could feel the heat carried over by the wind, smell the smoke, see the embers flying into the sky and someone’s, several someone’s, lives were burned away with a simple countdown he’d created.

He might cry later. He might not. He wasn’t always sure. 

Wylan knew the others had long ago forgone the guilt of most their crimes and he was on the same boat. It was rare they felt true remorse for what they did, but sometimes when he was up in the middle of the night, silently slipping into the living room to just sit in the dark, he can hear sniffles from Nina’s room, the rustle of sheets from Matthias’. He could tell from Inej’s sober look in the morning, the tired downcast of her eyes that she had been up late at night praying, trying to feel better. Jesper and Wylan didn’t sleep together very often when it came to  _ those _ nights, the ones were you are questioning everything you’ve done, knowing you’ll still do it again because it means survival. 

On those nights, they gave each other peace, space, and Wylan often thought that was probably the key to the relationships in the house: Staying close while knowing when to back away. 

He turned away from the destruction, feigning panic like most the others on that roof did, running down stairs and through exits into the street, grabbing his phone and ordering it to call Jesper, who was at another watch point. 

“Oh Ghezen!” Jesper answered. “Did you see that? The fire? Do you think it was an accident? Are you okay?”

Jesper was really playing it up for whoever was in his hearing range. They couldn’t exactly ask each other,  _ hey, how would you rate your bomb in destruction and death out of ten? I’d give it a seven _ , when they didn’t want to be found out.

“’Course I’m fine,” Wylan said, smiling because he knew that at least that question and it’s answer weren’t part of the scrip. “I’m just so terribly surprised. I’m feeling quite shaken. Who would do that? It didn’t look like an accident to me. The whole place was just down…Oh, can you come and pick me up now? I don’t really like all this screaming, it’s doing nothing for my nerves,”

“Of course I’ll come by and pick you up. I’ve got to text my brother though, and tell him I’m leaving. He was around here somewhere, but he disappeared with some girl. I don’t know what’s up with that boy, really,”

Wylan had to keep from snorting. Jesper loved using ‘brother’ as a keyword for Kaz.

“Yeah, your brother really is some trouble. Hope the girl knows what she’s doing with him and takes care. Well, depending on the girl, both of them should take care, especially right now with all that’s this going on. Do you know if your cousin’s alright? I know she was going to a party not too far from here, you told me…”

The ‘girl’ is Inej, (Jesper’s ‘brother’ is always going off with ‘some girl’) and the ‘cousin’ is Nina.

“Yeah, she texted me not too long ago. She heard about the explosion and seems to be right about done with the party. Her boyfriend wants to get her somewhere safe as soon as possible. As I do you. I’m swinging around to get you know, go to the block we agreed on for emergencies.”

The boyfriend is quite obviously Matthias.

“Thank Ghezen everyone’s alright. I’ll be there. See you, love,”

Wylan could  _ hear _ Jesper rolling his eyes, but they always used ridiculous voices or attitudes when doing things like this. It made it more fun.

Wylan quickly head out to a corner of a bake shop and a library (which one did he hate? You guessed it), not trying to correct his nervous twitches because nearly everyone was twitching nervously. Kaz always said that if you’re nervous while you’re trying to act like a normal civilian, fuck playing it cool and shake like a damn puppy in your boots. Wylan wondered at the word choice but had eventually agreed. 

Although puppies don’t wear boots.

A black car pulled over, sleek, shorter than theirs, smaller than theirs, but it was still Jesper in the driving seat that Wylan saw when he rolled down the window. 

Wylan smiled and climbed into the back. “Oh hey, Jesper’s cousin, Jesper’s cousin’s boyfriend,”

Nina rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “Is that what I am today? Figures, that’s the most common one. But I was hoping I could be his group therapist again, or maybe his belly dance teacher like that one time,”

Matthias made a weird grunting noise that clearly meant:  _ Stop. Dear Djel, please stop, I don’t need to imagine anyone belly dancing, especially not Jesper, especially not you teaching Jesper _ .

Wylan knew he spent too much time with the big guy when he could start translating his grunts. 

Nina looked a bit amused as she also translated it. “C’mon, I’d be a great teacher at belly dancing! And Jesper would be too, I bet you can imagine it, Matthias. I know Wylan definitely can,”

Now Wylan rolled his eyes jokingly. “Ghezen, no. He’d be horrible. Now drive us away from here, love,”

Jesper laughed as he steered them away from the site. “That’s such a weird thing for you to call me. Outside of the role-play — that makes us sound like some anime or book or show obsessed people — let’s stick to Jes and Wy. Not that there’s anything wrong with role-play. Except when I try to imagine Kaz role-playing as a girl.”

The car was silent as they all tried to imagine it. 

Nin smirked as she looked up at the ceiling, no doubt teasing Kaz in that thought.

“Has Kaz ever actually dressed up as a girl?” Matthias asked. “Because for our very evil cause, he totally would,”

“Do you think I could make him lose a bet and as a penalty he has to wear a skirt? Not in public of course, but there will definitely be a photo shoot at home,”

Wylan laughed. “Jesper, grand idea, except the part where you gamble and the part where Kaz beats you and you have to be the one wearing a skirt instead,”

“You know you’d love it,”

“I really wouldn’t. Some guys are into their boyfriends wearing girl clothes, but I’m not. I’d like your fashion sense to stay where it currently is.”

Nina raised an eyebrow. “His fashion sense is borderline girly,”

“Borderline, not quite there yet, so I’m good. But I swear if I find him in your room trying on dresses, we’re going to have a talk, Jesper.”

“You’ll break up with me if I dress like a girl?”

“Damn, it’s practically impossible for me to ever break up with you,” Wylan said. “No, I’d just have to explain to you that no weird kinky sex will come of it. I’m not  _ attracted _ to it, but if that’s you, that’s you. I’m not disgusted by it either.”

Jesper pouted. “But weird kinky sex is awesome,”

Matthias covered his ears with his hands and silently muttered, “Lalalalalalalalalalala,” under his breath, although Nina nodded encouragingly. 

“Plus,” Wylan said. “Would you actually go around wearing a dress?”

“Willingly? No. If it’s a dare or a bet or something I can make money on without being a prostitute or anything unsavory, then yes, maybe.”

“Let’s stop this conversation.” Wylan decided for the group, miming to Matthias that they were done. The large Fjerdan sighed in relief as he pulled away his hands from his ears.

“Now, to get my ‘brother’,” Jesper said.

 

* * *

 

Kaz was looking decidedly pleased when they picked him up. “Went as smooth as icing. Explosions, framing, all done. We’ll just follow his sentencing on the news tonight, since there isn’t a lawyer to be had or a defensive stand to be taken, and not get caught. It’s a fine thing. Oh, and there’s ice cream,”

“Ice cream?” Jesper asked.

Inej popped out from behind Kaz, waving some ice cream sandwiches at the group as they climbed into the back part of the car. There was the front with Jesper and Matthias, and Nina and Wylan took up the back. Inej and Kaz took the back part, considering the car was small, curled up on opposite ends.

Inej passed the I/C-S over to Nina from the back, and Nina gave them to the others. Jesper seemed to decide not to open his yet as he drove quickly towards the house, past the Slat.

Wylan thanked Inej for the ice cream, peering out the window. There was a familiar bike exiting the Slat’s parking area, going after them. “Hey, Jes, do you see—”

“The motorcycle belonging to Imogen that’s following us? Yeah. Do I give her a bit of a joyride?”

From the back, Kaz said, “As long as your hands stay on the wheel and your eyes on the road and no one dies, go ahead,”

“Kaz is worried about us dying?” Nina said. “I’m touched. You sounded like a dad, by the way,”

Kaz sounded slightly disgusted. “No. No one’s dad. No.”

It was silent, and he added, “Just. No.”

Jesper veered through small roads and curves, going up and down, disappearing into neighborhoods, going into empty One-Ways, and turning all over the place. Wylan watched as Imogen stayed far away as to not get smashed into and close enough not to lose them. They  _ could  _ have lost her if they wanted to, but since no one said to, Jesper didn’t bother.

After a few good fifteen minutes of him and Nina flying back and forth in the backseat, they reached home, and they all exited. Jesper drove the car down a few blocks and ran back to them to keep the car away from their house, parking it randomly, just in case. 

For more than the first time, Wylan was glad that Kaz had access to all the cameras in a one mile radius around them. It was sort of insane, really, and it had taken ages for him to achieve it, but it served them well now. They just didn’t want any curious fools liking the car, and the house. 

Imogen though had seen them step out, so she didn’t chase after Jesper. Around the time Jesper got back, not even out of breath, she’d just walked over to them after parking her own vehicle.

“Hey, ya’ all,” she said, looking at Kaz and Inej oddly, probably because e she had just watch them get out of the back of a car instead of the normal places normal people sat. “Anika told me to come on over,”

“Why?” Kaz asked, glancing at her before picking the lock to the door. Wylan shook his head. Very few people just went around breaking into their own homes because they couldn’t be bothered to carry a key instead of lock picks. It took him less time to pick the lock than it took Wylan to twist the key. 

Funny thing: The lock had been designed by Kaz and was epically difficult (the keys were also funny looking). They went to a Fabrikator (one considerably better than Jesper) to get it done. Only Kaz knew how to pick it, and everyone else just relied on the keys. 

Wylan wondered whether the Fabrikator that Kaz had hired was dead, a prisoner, or being watched or something, so that he can’t tell anyone about the lock. Kaz had been tempted to give the guy amnesia, but they needed to plans, and the guy, in case they ever needed a similar lock or keys made.

None of them had ever lost their keys of course, or else there would be hell to pay.

“Well,” Imogen started, glancing at the others as they all watched her silently, slowly eating their ice cream sandwiches. Kaz hadn’t opened his yet, he’d probably save if for a little bit. She looked a bit disturbed by their blank stares and slow chewing. It was honestly kind of funny. Jesper and Nina were seriously playing it up. “I wa’ looking for a job, but I didn’ wan’ any of the things posted at the Slat.”

They all stepped inside. It was warming up some, it being April, and the cold wasn’t bothering anyone. Kaz himself was only wearing a hoodie; the one Nina had given him at Christmas. Wylan didn’t miss the appreciative once-over Imogen gave the leader of the six when she’d come over to them. Not that Wylan could blame her.

The guy looked good, okay?  
So, for the first time in a few months, there was no mad scramble to take off a bunch of coats and scarves. The time for shorts and tank tops outside was coming soon. In reality, Ketterdam was always somewhat cold. 70 degrees ( **Fahrenheit, okay? I’m not a Celsius** ) was considered smoldering hot for them. Low 30’s was mild for them, and it took something well below the freezing temperature to make people stay inside and away from the streets. Well, the people who had a place to go, anyway.

Today was about mid-fifties, pretty warm by their book (although Inej said that it was still cold for her, and Matthias could have walked butt naked and not feel anything but mild hot weather. Jesper thought it was cold too, considering he was from Novyi Zem, and Nina considered it on a more normal scale, kind of chilly, kind of warm sort of thing, having gone all over the place, unlike them). 

It was sort of weird, how they were all still used to the weather of places they were from (except Wylan and Kaz, who were actually from Kerch). 

It was also kind of neat. 

Imogen came in last behind him, since no one wanted to deal with sending her away, and they were all a little bit curious about her telling them more about Kaz in his younger days.

“So, a job?” Kaz said. “Not a single one interested you?”

“Nope,” Imogen said, taking a seat at the kitchen island. 

“Too bad then. That’s what there is.”

Imogen groaned. “ _ Brekker _ ,”

“If that’s it, there’s a door,”

“Kaz!” Inej chided. He sent her a look of  _ fine, fine, Saints; I’ll try and behave a tad nicer. Maybe _ .

Wylan really shouldn’t be able to translate Kaz’s facial expressions of annoyance that easily, but since they are his most common ones, he can. 

“So, can we actually have a conversation her’, or…?” Imogen drawled

“Conversations? With Kaz?” Nina raised an eyebrow. “Its bicker, banter, or argue with him. No other choices.”

“He  _ is _ impossible,” Inej said, and anyone who didn’t know her would have missed that note of fondness in her voice. But they all knew her, except Imogen, and so the amused looks Jesper and Nina sent her way were spot on. Kaz’s lips twitched when he glanced over at her. 

“So, jobs, jobs, jobs,” Kaz said, tapping his cane on the floor with every repetition. “Otherwise known as  _ try and get on Brekker’s good side once more, and find out more about his crew _ ."

Imogen looked annoyed. “We’re no’ always working at an angle, Brekker,”

“The world isn’t. We are,”

Wylan thought it was a funny thing for Imogen to say. She had a sidle when she walked, so she actually  _ was _ always was approaching the world at an angle. 

“Whatever, Brekker. I want a job, but not the ones at the Slat. They’re boring,”

“When was the last time you pulled of a job?”

“Maybe two weeks ago, on my way to Ketterdam,”

“How big?”

“Jus’ some quick B&E a’ some rich guy’s house. Had another girl with me, she disappeared sometime afterwards.”

“Hmm,”

“Brekker, c’mon, you know I can do nearly anything you think to throw a’ me,”

“Hmm,”

Imogen looked un-amused. Kaz got up to get himself a glass of water, of course not offering her any. 

Kaz looked over Inej’s shoulder, since she was on her phone. “What’s that?”

She looked up at him. “Assignments for bio. Nina already turned hers in, and Matthias is nearly done, but it’s damn annoying,”

Nina looked affronted. “I gave you my notes!”

“Nina, I take more notes than you do and I still don’t understand any of this. Plus, your notes are illegible,”

“I have good handwriting!”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can understand what the Hell ‘serotonin is anti-supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ means. What even is ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’? Is that even a word?”

Nina, Jesper, and Wylan stared at her in horror, and even Imogen seemed surprised. Kaz, Inej, and Matthias looked confused. 

“You don’t know Mary Poppins?”

Wylan stared at Inej, widening his eyes pleadingly, but she just shook her head. “I mean, I know the name. They said it in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Still no idea why Yondu looked like her though,”

Wylan and Jesper turned to Matthias and Kaz, who both shook her heads. “What she said,”

“Damn,” Imogen said, surprised. “Even I know her. I watched her movie and everything,”

“She has a movie?” Matthias asked.

“Yeah  _ duh _ ,” Nina said. “She’s  _ Mary Poppins _ ,”

“Considering that we don’t know who the Hell Mary Poppins is, that is hardly a valid answer, Nina,” Kaz noted. “Anyway, we got off the matter at hand. Do you want me to hack your teacher later and mess around with the assignment again, Inej?”

“As much as I want to say yes…No.” Inej raised an eyebrow at Kaz, unimpressed.

“Decency,” Kaz rolled his eyes, and Wylan watched Imogen watch him.

“Isn’t bad,” Matthias finished.

“It really, truly, is,”

“So, Brekker, yoo-hoo before you ge’ distracted again —since when do you ge’ distracted?—how abo’ tha’ job thing?”

An idea seemed to come to Kaz and he tilted his head to the side, eyes squinting, eyes far away. 

“Scheming face,” Inej commented. Wylan and the others nodded.

“Scheming face?” Imogen asked.

“What he looks like when he’s planning a scheme. Someone’s demise is beginning when that face appears,” Nina explained.

“Ahh,”

Kaz looked up, his face settling. “Okay, I’ve got an idea. Imogen—”

“You really need to call me Imos again,”

“Yeah, no. Anyway, how about this. As I’m sure you’ve gathered, we take classes at the University. Don’t ask why, it doesn’t really matter. Anyway, if you can get all the papers you need, fake of course, by the end of the month, properly, and get in with no hitches afterwards, I’ll consider you for a big job. I’m not giving you any hints. You aren’t allowed to ask Anika, although she doesn’t even go the University, and none of us are allowed to help you. How you pay for the stuff, how you find the info, how you get in, all of that’s up to you,”

Imogen stared at Kaz. “Why?”

Kaz’s smirk was razor-sharp. “To see if you can handle  _ my _ Ketterdam,”

Imogen looked partly scared and partly attracted to the smile, which bothered Wylan. He saw Inej and the others shift too. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one.

“ _ Your _ Ketterdam? Cocky, Brekker?”

“I’m not cocky. I’m the King, and I got there through blood and bone. I’ll be watching your progress. I have eyes and ears everywhere, and I’ll know if you do something wrong,”

“Brekker, really, you know how to sweet talk a girl,”

“If by ‘sweet talk’ you mean ‘threaten to shoot in the head’, then yeah, I do. Otherwise, I leave that to Nina,”

Inej visibly relaxed at the way he reflected the comment, while Nina batted her eyelashes at no one in particular, making eyes at everything. 

Imogen ran a hand though her brown hair, sighing. “Fine. Fine. I’ll do it. Fuck you, Brekker, but I’ll do it,”

“Joy.”

“Kaz,” Inej said, glancing up at him. “Don’t you think you should give her one little hint?”

“Nope,” Kaz said. “She’ll have to make some connections. If she asks very nicely, I might give her one week’s extra time. Otherwise, time starts now,”

Imogen groaned s she pulled herself out of the stool she’d been sitting on. “Brekker, Imma damn kill you,”

“You’ll be dead before you lift a finger,”

“Will it be your smile that does it to me?”

“No. Most likely a gunshot through your eyes. Times-a-ticking, Imogen. Might want to start working. Every second counts,”

“You don’t have to be so stiff, Brekker.” She smiled a close-lip smile, eyes glittering. “I’ll see you around, little crows,”

She winked at Kaz, gave the rest of them a back wave, and was out their front door without a trace left.

After the door was closed, Kaz walked around the couch and collapsed next to Inej. “That girl is more trouble than she’s worth,”

Wylan raised an eyebrow. “Then why do you deal with her?”

“Because she’s like a fly that keeps coming back no matter how many times you swat at them.”

“And you’ve ‘swatted’ a lot?” Matthias asked. 

Kaz gave a humorless laugh as he reached for Inej’s hand, not even trying to hide it. The others tried to not follow the movement, and failed. Inej looked rather pleased. “If the conversation we just had wasn’t enough of a hint, then yes, I have ‘swatted’ a whole lot. I drove her out from Ketterdam, after all,”

The group was quite as they watched him, but he said no more.

 

* * *

 

Sometimes later, during dinner, Wylan leaned over to Inej and whispered in her ear. “Do you want Imogen to succeed?”

Inej turned to him, a pleasant expression on her face, her voice as saintly and sweet as he’d ever heard him. “Hell no.”


End file.
